Sisterhood
by Liz4
Summary: When Alice, the cousin Bella hasn't seen in over 10 years, moves to Forks to live with her, the two find out they have a lot to teach each other. AH/AU, B&E, canon couples.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Sisterhood  
**By**: Liz  
**Chapter**: 1  
**Rating**: M (subject to change)  
**Disclaimers**: The characters are not mine.  
**Author's Notes**: Just a little more silliness from my mind. The idea for this story came from a book by Beverly Sommers called _The Meaning of Sisterhood_. The story's a bit different but there are definitely a lot of similarities. There may be a bit of OOC-ness but all of our favorites are here and all canon couples are included. As always, thanks to my sis for putting up with me, making suggestions, and just being awesome. Thanks, Lise!

* * *

On a Sunday in late September during her junior year of high school, Bella Swan was curled up in her bed with her copy of _The Picture of Dorian Gray_. Though Fall had only officially just begun, the weather that weekend had been unseasonably cool and the rain pouring from the gray sky only added to the wintry mood. As far as Bella was concerned, it was a perfect day to be in her room under her quilt rereading one of her favorite books.

A knock on her door pulled her from the world of Dorian and sticking a piece of paper in the book to hold her place, she set the book on her bedside table. "Yeah, dad?"

As her father Charlie opened the door and entered her bedroom, Bella was immediately struck by the expression on Charlie's face. "Dad? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Charlie wasn't one for wearing his emotions on his sleeve so Bella knew by the look on his face that something was up. He sat down at the foot of her bed and sighed, running his hand over his face. "Bells, your Aunt Anna died," he said without preamble.

Bella froze. She hadn't seen her mother Renee's only sister in more than ten years but still… "What? How?"

"She was hit by a drunk driver while she was crossing the street."

"Oh my God," Bella breathed. "When did it happen? Should I pack? Are we going down for the funeral?"

Charlie winced. "Actually, um, no. See, this happened back in March."

"What?" Bella was astounded. "Why are we only finding out about this now? Is Alice okay? Who's taking care of her?"

"Alice is fine but, well, that's the thing. According to your aunt's will, your mom was Alice's legal guardian and they've been looking for Renee since Anna's death without any luck. She's been staying with some great aunt from her dad's side but apparently that's not really working out. And, uh, there's no one else so, uh, yeah, Alice is going to come live with us."

Bella stared at her father in disbelief. Her cousin Alice was going to live with them? Was this for real? Bella and Alice had been close once, but that had been when they were little kids.

They had all lived in Phoenix together – Anna and her husband Jack only blocks away from Renee and Charlie. Both Alice and Bella were only children and the sisters had thrown their daughters together as often as possible. The girls had gone to nursery school together and taken ballet, gymnastics, art classes, and done about a million other activities together. They had been each other's best friends, sleeping over at each other's house practically from the time they were born and sharing their childhood secrets about having a cookie before dinner or seeing their mom and dad kiss only with each other.

But then, when Alice and Bella were six, Jack was killed in a car wreck and Anna had packed up and moved herself and Alice to Los Angeles. Bella hadn't seen or heard from Alice since. Two years later, Renee, too, had walked out of Bella and Charlie's life forever and the year Bella turned nine, she and Charlie had moved up to Forks and Alice had honestly probably been the last thing on Bella's mind.

"Um, so when is she coming?"

"Next weekend."

"Wow. That's really, um, that's soon."

"Yeah, well, since the semester just started and all, she doesn't want to miss a lot of class or anything."

Bella nodded, her shocked mind still in overdrive. "So, um, I guess we'll fix up the spare room for her?" It sounded more like a question than a statement and Bella nodded in agreement. "Would you mind getting some, well, stuff for her room? Like sheets and a bedspread and all that? I'll give you my card. I'd do it myself but, well, I figure you'd know better than I would what someone your age would like."

Bella doubted that Alice's tastes were going to be anything like her own but she agreed, telling Charlie she'd head out one day after school to pick up some things. After asking her if she was going to be okay, Charlie left Bella alone in her room. Thankful that her father never hovered, especially when she needed time to herself, Bella tried to process what she had just learned. Alice was about to come live with them. Alice, who she hadn't seen in over ten years. She wondered what her cousin was like now. Would they have anything in common? Would they still be friends? Would they even get along anymore?

Bella sighed, her book long forgotten as these thoughts ran through her head and she pulled her quilt more tightly around her. One thing was certain; her quiet life was about to change in a big way.

* * *

On Monday morning, Bella told Angela Weber the news about Alice as they were making their way to History together. Angela was a sweet, friendly girl and the closest thing Bella had to a friend at Forks High School. Sometimes Bella sat with Angela and her friends at lunch, while other times, she preferred to eat by herself. When Charlie started getting that guilty look on his face that Bella knew meant he thought he left her alone too much, she would invite Angela to hang out or she would go to the movies or maybe even a party with Angela and her group.

One of Angela's friends, Jessica Stanley, had the biggest mouth in the school and Bella was counting on her to spread the news of Alice's impending arrival. "Wow," Angela said when Bella finished telling her about Alice. "Your long lost cousin. Are you excited?"

Bella smiled. "Yes," she admitted. "I just wish I had more of an idea what to expect, you know?"

Angela smiled back and gave Bella's arm a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be great, don't worry."

Bella felt better after talking to Angela, but she couldn't help thinking about Alice non-stop for the rest of the week. In a town as small as Forks, new people were big news and Bella was a bit nervous about being, even peripherally, part of the slew of attention that was sure to come Alice's way.

The last new person in their school had been Rosalie Hale the previous spring. Rosalie was a drop dead gorgeous blonde with a killer figure and when she had first arrived, the popular boys and girls had almost hurt themselves trying to get her to hang out with them. But she had remained cold and aloof and even now, Bella didn't see her talking much to anyone. She sat alone at lunch and Bella had never seen her at the few parties and school dances she herself had attended.

Bella had heard some of the girls talking about Rosalie, calling her a bitch and a slut, but Bella figured that was just sour grapes. Not that she believed Rosalie was a nice person – someone who looked like that and didn't hang around with anyone else was really probably just a total snob who thought she was too good for everyone around her.

As their paths rarely crossed, however, Bella didn't spend much time thinking about Rosalie. No, she preferred to spend her time thinking about Jordan. Jordan Rivers had moved to Forks shortly before Rosalie had and to say he fascinated Bella was putting it mildly.

Mysterious, dark haired Jordan and his electric blue eyes had been the subject of every one of Bella's fantasies from the moment she had first laid eyes on him. From what she had observed, he didn't seem to hang out with any one group or have a girlfriend and Bella often found herself wishing that she were a braver person, one who could walk up to Jordan and start a conversation. But she was most definitely not that kind of person and so Jordan and his enigmatic smile remained a mystery to Bella.

This week, however, even her fantasies about Jordan were neglected as all of Bella's time and energy were focused solely on Alice and her impending arrival. After all, Jordan was still only a fantasy. Alice, on the other hand, living right down the hall, was only days away from becoming a reality.

* * *

Saturday afternoon, Bella was sitting on the couch in front of the TV, hoping to kill time until that evening when Alice was supposed to arrive. According to Charlie, he had asked Alice when her flight would be coming in but she had assured him she would get a taxi from the airport when she got in Saturday evening. Bella knew Charlie wasn't thrilled with the idea but Alice must have been persuasive since he had agreed to it.

Bella was far too nervous and excited to concentrate on the inane '80s movie playing but she found the background noise soothing so she left it on as she imagined what it would have been like to meet Alice at the airport. It had been more than a decade; would she have even recognized her cousin?

She was just starting to plan dinner in her head – something that would keep well enough to reheat for both Charlie and Alice – when the doorbell rang. Startled, Bella looked at the clock expectantly, disappointed when she saw that it was still far too early for her cousin to be arriving.

Bella opened the front door and found a small dark haired girl standing on the steps with a large grin on her face.

"Bella?"

Bella nodded and the girl squealed, throwing her arms around her and almost knocking Bella off her feet; for such a tiny thing, she certainly was strong, Bella noted absently.

"Alice?" she questioned, slightly alarmed.

The small girl laughed and hugged her tighter. "Of course it's me, silly! Oh, it is so good to see you again!"

She eventually released her and Bella finally had a chance to see her cousin properly. Gone was the long black hair that Bella had vaguely remembered, replaced instead by a short, spiky pixie cut.

"I, but, um, you're early," was the only thing Bella could think to say. "Did you get an earlier flight?"

Alice grinned. "Something like that." She reached her hands over her head and stretched quickly. "Whew! I love driving, but it's really good to get out of the car."

"You drove? All the way from LA? But that's got to be, like, 24 hours of driving or something." Bella was amazed. No wonder Alice hadn't wanted to tell Charlie when her flight was arriving.

Alice's grin turned wicked. "Actually, it's supposed to be about 19, I think, but it took me about 16 hours overall. Don't worry, I stopped when I got to Oregon and stayed overnight and then I just left really early this morning."

She stood grinning at Bella and Bella finally came back to herself enough to move aside so Alice could enter the house. Her cousin set down a purse and a large shoulder bag. "I have more stuff in the car, if you wouldn't mind giving me a hand."

"Oh, yeah, sure, of course," Bella stammered, still trying to wrap her head around her cousin's unexpectedly early arrival. She quickly shoved her feet into her Chucks and followed Alice outside.

Alice's car sat in the driveway, a sporty little blue car with a retractable roof, and Bella couldn't help noticing how very old and clumsy her beloved ancient truck looked next to it. Alice hadn't been kidding about having more stuff. Nearly every square inch of her car from the trunk to the passenger seat was crammed with suitcases and boxes of every shape and size and Bella reminded herself that her cousin was moving 17 years of her life in, not just visiting.

While they unloaded Alice's car, Bella snuck surreptitious looks at her cousin. As Bella had already noticed, her cousin was definitely on the small side. Bella was only average height herself but Alice looked like she barely broke five feet. Bella also noted that even after her long car ride, Alice still managed to look like she'd just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

The girls decided to get everything out of the car first and leave it in the living room until they had everything before beginning to transport it upstairs to Alice's new bedroom. After what seemed like at least thirty trips back and forth to Bella, all of Alice's belongings were in the living room and the girls stopped for a moment to take off their coats and shoes before Bella led Alice upstairs to the former guest room.

The room had been left pretty plain since Charlie and Bella had moved in and Bella had done the best she could to make it more like a real room and less impersonal without completely cleaning out Charlie's wallet. All the junk that had accumulated in the room over the years had either gone in the garage or the trash and she had given it a thorough cleaning. She had also bought a large purple, white, and gray woven rug for the hardwood floor to match the comforter and sheet set she had bought for the bed and added gauzy off white curtains to the windows. An old but barely used armchair sat in one corner of the room and a desk, bookshelf, and dresser in a light wood finish completed the room.

"Oooh, it even has an accent wall," Alice said with a smile, as she entered the room and dropped her bags on the bed. "It's perfect, I love it!"

Bella didn't bother to mention that the real reason only one of the formerly off white walls had been painted deep plum was because she had run out of time to get to the rest of the room before Alice's arrival.

The girls carried all of Alice's belongings up to the room and Bella quickly moved out of Alice's way, perching on the edge of the desk chair while her cousin pulled out more clothing than Bella had ever seen in one place. The tiny girl was a whirlwind in the small room, quickly unpacking several of her suitcases and boxes and storing their contents in the closet, dresser, and desk.

"There's some extra room in my closet if you need it," Bella offered when it became clear that Alice was not going to be able to hang anything else in her closet without everything getting crushed and wrinkled.

"Thanks," Alice said with a smile, rezipping the bag on her bed and following Bella to her own room, dragging the massive rolling suitcase behind her. Alice made quick work of the remaining clothing in her bag, filling over half of Bella's closet with her things, and Bella couldn't help but notice how paltry her wardrobe seemed next to her cousin's.

"Feel free to borrow whatever you like," Alice said as if reading Bella's mind. "You're a little taller than I am but that shouldn't matter for most of my stuff."

"Um, thanks," Bella said awkwardly, following Alice back to her room. She flopped onto the bed, exhausted, while Alice began unpacking her remaining suitcases and boxes.

From the final box, Alice pulled a picture frame, smiling at it for a moment before coming over to the bed and handing it to Bella. In the picture, tiny Alice was tucked under the arm of a tall, gorgeous blond guy who was gazing at her adoringly. "Is that your boyfriend?" Bella asked.

"That's Jasper. He's my soul mate," Alice replied matter of factly as Bella handed the picture back to her. Normally, Bella would have laughed at such a declaration but something about Alice's manner told Bella that that was exactly what Jasper was to her.

"I'm sorry you had to leave him behind," Bella said, unable to think of anything else to say in response to Alice's words.

Alice looked slightly sad for a moment. "Yeah, I'm kind of used to seeing him every day," she admitted. "Of course, that was definitely a lot easier before I lived with Aunt Jane. Then at least he could sneak into my room at night. His dad's totally laid back – pretty much a leftover hippie – so he doesn't much care what Jasper does as long as he's happy.

"But of course, Aunt Jane had her rules when it came to Jazz and me. I had to be in for the night or he had to be out of the house by 9:00pm. 10:00 on weekends, because she was such a sport," Alice added, rolling her eyes. "I swear, the woman would have had our dates chaperoned if she could."

Alice looked far away for a moment as she placed the photo on the table next to her bed but the moment passed quickly and she smiled. "But it's all right. We could be on opposite sides of the world, it wouldn't change the way we feel about each other. Besides, he promised to come up and visit once I get settled."

She turned her full attention back to Bella. "What about you? Are you seeing anyone?" Bella shook her head, a faint blush appearing in her cheeks. "But there's someone you're interested in, I can tell," Alice said excitedly. "What's his name? What does he look like? What's he like?"

"His name's Jordan Rivers," Bella said, surprising herself. She was not normally one for sharing such information but something about Alice made her comfortable enough to talk about the subject of her fantasies.

Alice nodded approvingly. "Great name."

"And he's just…different," Bella continued. "He just moved here in January. He keeps to himself mostly and he doesn't act like the other boys at my school. I've never even spoken to him, though. I'm sure he doesn't even know I exist."

Alice smiled. "Well, I can't wait to see your mystery boy. You'll have to point him out to me on Monday."

Bella agreed, secretly hoping her cousin would have forgotten all about it by then, before she changed the subject. "Do you still dance?" Bella asked, bringing up one of their commonalities from childhood. "Ballet, I mean."

Alice laughed. "Oh no, I gave that up ages ago," she told Bella.

"But you were really good at it, weren't you?"

Alice shrugged. "Once the teacher started getting all intense and wanting us to focus only on ballet, it really just wasn't for me anymore. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be my life, so why do it if it's not fun anymore?"

Bella nodded agreeably as Alice stopped and surveyed her room. Seeming satisfied with what she saw, she smiled to herself and then turned her attention back to Bella. "So what do you want to do about dinner? Any good pizza places around here?"

Bella nodded again and the two girls headed downstairs to the kitchen to get the number of the local pizza place. After she had ordered two pizzas, Bella led her cousin into the living room where she gratefully sank down onto the couch. Alice, however, was still wide awake and from her seat on one of the chairs she peppered Bella with questions about Forks, Charlie, school, and herself.

"Well, you picked a good week to start, anyway," Bella told her in response to one of Alice's questions about school. "We're off this Friday for a Teachers' workshop so you won't even have to suffer through a full week."

"Oooh, that means a three day weekend!" Alice said excitedly. "Maybe we can go up to Seattle or something!"

Bella agreed as the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of their dinner. Bringing one box into the living room, they dug in ravenously, quickly finishing the first one between them. Somehow, Alice managed to keep talking and asking questions even as she polished off five slices. Bella tried to keep up with her cousin's rapid pace of talking and she was still being inundated with questions when the front door opened.

"Uncle Charlie!" Alice squealed, jumping to her feet and running over to throw her arms around her uncle. Bella bit her lip to keep from giggling at the terrified expression on her father's face before he tentatively put his arms around his niece and gently hugged her back.

"It's so good to see you!" Alice exclaimed as she pulled back. "You look just how I remember you!"

"Um, hi, Alice. I'm glad you made it here safely."

"There's pizza in the kitchen, dad," Bella said when he looked over to her for help. "I know you're probably starving."

Charlie excused himself and went into the kitchen while Alice joined Bella on the couch. A few moments later, Charlie rejoined them, a plate with several slices of pizza in one hand and a can of his favorite beer in the other.

"Bells, whose car is that in the driveway?" Charlie asked as he settled into his regular chair.

"That's mine, Uncle Charlie," Alice responded. "I really didn't want to be without my car and it's a pretty nice drive if you divide up into two days like I did."

Bella expected Charlie to at least look a little concerned about Alice's long drive but he didn't really seem to mind. In fact, to Bella's surprise, the three of them easily fell into conversation and Bella was relieved to see how well Charlie and Alice seemed to take to each other. To say Charlie wasn't a social being was a massive understatement and Bella had been a bit worried about how he would adjust to having another person living in their house. But he seemed pretty comfortable already with Alice and Bella smiled to herself as she listened to Alice ask Charlie question after question.

They had been talking for about an hour when Alice yawned and stretched her arms over her head. "I think I'm going to go to bed. I guess it _was_ kind of a long drive after all," she admitted with a sheepish smile. "Plus, I need to call Jasper before I go to bed and let him know I got here safely."

"That your boyfriend?" Charlie asked, surprising Bella. Charlie wasn't usually ones for asking questions, especially not personal questions. It looked like Alice might be rubbing off on him already.

"Love of my life," Alice responded simply.

Charlie nodded as Bella rose to her feet. "Yeah, I think I'm going to head up, too. Night, dad."

"Night, Bells. Nice, Alice."

"Goodnight, Uncle Charlie. And thank you for letting me stay."

Charlie looked caught off guard for a moment but then he smiled at Alice. "You're family, Alice. And we're very glad to have you here."

Alice smiled brilliantly at Charlie as she left the room and Bella couldn't help smiling as well as she followed her cousin up the stairs.

When Bella reached the top of the stairs in front of the bathroom, Alice stopped and turned to face her. "Thank you." Alice's face was suddenly serious and Bella looked at her questioningly.

"For what?"

"For doing this. For letting me stay, letting me invade your life."

"Charlie was right, Alice. You're family and I'm really happy that you're here. And, um, I'm really sorry about your mom," she blurted out. She and Charlie weren't big on emotional displays so she wasn't really sure how to express her feelings on the matter and she hadn't brought it up earlier because she didn't want to upset Alice, but she also wanted her cousin to know that she cared and that she was there for her.

"Thanks, Bella," Alice said quietly. "We barely had any kind of relationship anymore – she was always so busy with work, traveling and everything, that I barely saw her – but it was still sudden and awful and I do miss her. But I also know she's missed my dad every day for the last 11 years; at least now they're together again."

The girls were both quiet a moment and then Alice gave Bella a small smile. "And I'm really glad I'm here, too," she said. "I missed you so much when mom moved us to LA. This is almost like getting my sister back."

She leaned forward and hugged Bella fiercely for a moment and then slipped past her into the bathroom. "I'll be quick, I promise," she said. "I just want to get ready for bed before I talk to Jasper."

Bella smiled. "Take your time. And, um, I can take you around tomorrow, show you school and everything if you want."

Alice smiled back. "That would be great, thanks, Bella. Night," she added as she closed the door.

"Night."

After Bella took her turn in the bathroom 15 minutes later, she returned to her room, closing the door and climbing into bed. As she turned off her light and snuggled down under her covers, something Alice had said earlier came to mind and Bella smiled to herself. _Getting her sister back_. She liked the sound of that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Sisterhood  
**By**: Liz  
**Chapter**: 2  
**Rating**: M  
**Disclaimers**: The characters are not mine.  
**Author's Notes**: Just a little more silliness from my mind. The idea for this story came from a book by Beverly Sommers called _The Meaning of Sisterhood_. The story's a bit different but there are definitely a lot of similarities. There may be a bit of OOC-ness but all of our favorites are here and all canon couples are included. Rose's car and Alice's first day of school outfit are on my profile page if you want to check them out. As always, thanks to my sis for putting up with me and holding my hand from the other side of the world. Thanks, Lise!

* * *

Late the next morning, Alice and Bella set out on their tour of Forks. Alice offered to let Bella drive her car but Bella declined, feeling more comfortable in her sturdy behemoth than she would driving Alice's shiny, sporty little car. "Don't knock the truck," Bella said, seeing the expression on Alice's face. "It may not look like much but it's never let me down. And believe me, when it gets all snowy and icy here, you'll be glad we have it."

Alice's eyes lit up. "I've never seen snow," she said excitedly. "I can't wait!"

"Trust me," Bella said as she backed out of the driveway. "After one winter in Forks, you'll have seen enough snow to last you a lifetime."

They drove to Forks High School first and the girls wandered around the buildings for a little while as Bella pointed out the different classrooms Alice would most likely be in among the different buildings.

After that, Alice asked to see downtown Forks. Bella knew her cousin was probably not going to think much of it, especially after living in LA for so many years, but she dutifully drove through the tiny downtown area, pointing out the handful of places she thought might be of interest to her cousin.

"You guys don't have a whole lot of shopping around here, do you?" Alice asked. Bella shook her head. "Oh well, Seattle can't be **that** far," she said cheerfully.

"It's about a three hour drive," Bella responded. "There's also a pretty decent sized city named Port Angeles that's only about an hour away. That's where the movie theater and mall for this area are."

"I know what we're doing this weekend," Alice sang excitedly. She started rattling off plans for the three day weekend, Bella only half listening as she turned the truck back toward home. Shopping was definitely not her thing and she normally would have preferred to just laze around the house over the weekend but if it made Alice happy, Bella was willing to put aside her own feelings on the matter and try to help her cousin feel at home.

* * *

In the morning before school, Bella generally got up with enough time to shower, eat, and get dressed. However, she got up earlier than usual on Monday morning in order to shower before Alice who had advised her that it took her "a while" to get ready for school. The hour and a half she took between the bathroom and her bedroom that morning let Bella know her cousin hadn't been exaggerating. Charlie had long ago left for work and Bella was listening to music in her room when Alice finally appeared in her doorway.

"How do I look?" she asked, spinning around to give Bella a full view of her outfit.

The heels she wore with her dark wash skinny jeans and silver and black cardigan over a black tank top might have been a little fancy for school but all in all, Bella had to admit that her cousin looked fantastic. "You look great," Bella said honestly.

Alice smiled brightly. "Thanks. Ready to go?"

Bella stood up from her bed and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Ready."

The girls headed downstairs, Alice grabbing a doughnut from the kitchen for breakfast on their way out the door. She begged Bella to let her drive to school, swearing that she remembered the directions from their drive the day before, and Bella found herself holding her breath as her cousin sped along the winding roads to school in her powerful little sports car.

Bella was conscious of the stares from her fellow classmates that followed her and Alice as they made their way into the building that housed the administrative offices but Alice appeared to be unaware of the attention she was attracting, chattering cheerfully to Bella and smiling at everyone they passed.

Alice had hoped that she and Bella would have some classes together but when they looked over her classes, the only period they shared was lunch. Ms. Cope in the office offered to shift some of Alice's classes but Alice, sensing that it would be a pain for the kind woman, assured her that her schedule was fine the way it was.

First period had already ended by the time Alice had gotten her locker assignment and everything else she needed from the office and with what she hoped was a brave smile at Bella, the two separated outside the admissions office and Alice headed to her second period English class.

A group of girls stood to one side of the hallway by a bank of lockers and Alice could almost _feel_ them giving her the once over as she passed. Fortunately, she found her classroom without any trouble and after taking a deep breath to steady herself, she entered the room.

The teacher quickly glanced over Alice's forms before looking at the seating chart in front of him. "There's an open seat next to Mr. Rivers right there that you can take," he said, pointing to a seat halfway down the aisle in the row furthest to his right.

As she took her seat, the name the teacher had mentioned twigged something in Alice's memory and she realized that she was most likely at that moment sitting next to her cousin's mystery crush. Not one to be concerned with subtlety, she quickly turned her attention to the boy seated to her right. His long legs were stretched out in the aisle and his dress pants and dark sweater made him look more sophisticated than the other boys Alice had seen so far. His startling blue eyes contrasted well with his pale skin and dark hair and Alice could see why her cousin was drawn to him.

He caught Alice looking at him and smiled in a way he probably thought was enigmatic; to Alice, however, it just looked like something he practiced in front of the mirror. Since the smile didn't even seem to really be directed at her, she quickly shifted her focus and pretended to be staring at the window at the rain that was now driving fiercely against the windows. She wondered what Forks would look like if the sun ever came out.

After class, a handful of the girls in her class stopped Alice in the hall and asked her if she was Bella's cousin. They seemed pretty nice and Alice chatted with them briefly before getting directions from them to her third period Trigonometry class.

Alice arrived at her Trig class at the same time as several of her classmates and after the teacher had looked at her forms, he told her to take a seat anywhere. She saw a seat near the back between the wall and a pair of attractive guys and deciding it would be nice to have a class where she couldn't feel everyone's eyes on her, headed to the back to claim it.

About halfway through the period, a student came into the classroom with a note for the teacher and Alice turned to find the two boys next to her staring at her. Though their coloring was different – the one closer to her was dark haired and hazel eyed while his neighbor had reddish brown hair and deep green eyes – they looked enough alike that Alice was willing to bet they were related. She held their gazes a moment before she spoke.

"Does it ever stop raining in this place?" she whispered with an infectious grin.

The two boys smiled back. "You're Bella Swan's cousin, right?" the dark haired boy asked.

Alice nodded affirmatively. "You're sure not like her," the green eyed boy observed.

The dark haired one laughed. "No kidding. Like Bella Swan would even give you the time of day."

"Well, maybe she has a good reason," Alice responded, though she personally didn't see anything wrong with either of the two guys. Still, she had noticed that her cousin was definitely on the quiet side and if she was as shy as Alice suspected, she probably steered well clear of the outgoing boys in her school.

A strange look crossed the green eyed boy's face and he looked almost sad a moment but before he could respond, the student with the note left and the teacher returned his attention to the class, shooting a sharp glare at the back of the room where Alice sat with the boys, effectively halting any further conversation among the group.

When class was finally over, the two boys introduced themselves to Alice as Emmett – the dark haired muscular one – and Edward – the bronze haired, green eyed boy – Cullen. They offered to walk Alice to her next class and if Alice had thought the girls were staring earlier, their eyes were about popping out of their heads now as she walked down the hall with the two best looking guys in the school.

In her History class, there was only one empty seat in the class, halfway down the second aisle next to an absolutely gorgeous blonde. Alice flashed the girl a bright smile as she slid into the seat but the blonde only nodded coolly at her before returning her attention to the front of the room. Alice tried to pay attention to the teacher but the subject matter was stuff she had learned the year before and she found herself wishing the class would just hurry up and end so she could see her cousin again.

When class finally ended, Alice was as eager as the students around her to get out of the room and to the cafeteria. As she stuck her books into her bag, however, she heard the blonde next to her swear under her breath as her books and notebook went crashing to the floor, scattering papers around the desks nearby. Although several students walked by – some in fact actually stepping over the papers and notebook –, not one stopped to assist the blonde. Frowning to herself in puzzlement, Alice set her bag aside as she crouched down and began gathering papers together.

"I got it, it's fine, don't worry," the girl muttered as she crouched down next to Alice and began shoving papers into her bag.

The blonde's shirt came into full view and Alice paused in her paper collection. "Wait a minute. Rasputin Music? Tell me I am not looking at a fellow California girl," she said, her eyes shining excitedly.

"San Diego, born and raised," the blonde replied, her tone a little friendlier as she, too, paused in gathering papers and looked directly at Alice.

Alice grinned. "I just moved here from L.A.! Alice Brandon."

"Rosalie Hale. Call me Rose."

Alice handed the papers she had gathered to Rose and the two girls stood and walked out of the classroom together. "Feel like performing an act of charity and sitting with the new girl?" Alice asked, smiling charmingly at Rose as they entered the cafeteria. Rose agreed and the two girls got into line, Alice talking nonstop while they selected their lunches.

Alice scanned the cafeteria as she and Rose came out of the lunch line and almost immediately found Bella seated at a table nearby. Her cousin was alone, her nose buried in a book while her lunch sat untouched on the table in front of her. Alice was starting to wonder about her.

"Hey, Bella," Alice said as she sat down across from her cousin. "You know Rose, right?"

Bella looked up, startled. "Um, yeah, I... Hi, Rose," she finished, overcoming her surprise enough to greet the blonde.

"Hey, Bella," Rose replied, her tone slightly guarded as she too took her seat at the table.

"Rose and I have History together," Alice continued. "She's a fellow California transplant."

"So how were your classes?" Bella asked as she put her book to the side and picked up her sandwich.

"Well it doesn't look like I'm going to be too behind in any of my classes so far," Alice said. "Which I was kind of worried about, so that's good. And people have been pretty nice."

"Hiiiiiiiii, Aliiii," Emmett called as he and Edward walked by.

Alice smiled, giving the boys a cheerful wave before she returned her attention to Bella and Rose. "Like I said," she said with a grin.

"And I see you've met the local brain trust," Bella muttered.

"What, Emmett and Edward? Yeah, they're in my Trig class. They seem like really nice guys."

Bella rolled her eyes but said no more on the subject and Alice, remembering Emmett's earlier comment, let the subject drop for the moment.

"Oooh, guess who I have class with," she said excitedly. "Your mystery man – Jordan. He's in my English class."

Bella stared at Alice in horror. The last thing she needed was her cousin sharing her fixation on Jordan with Rosalie Hale. She could just imagine the pitying look the gorgeous blonde must be giving her as she dreamt about a guy she could never have.

"You're right, Bells," Alice continued, seemingly unaware of her cousin's distress. "He definitely has the mysterious, dark and handsome thing working for him."

To Bella's surprise and relief, however, Rose quickly shifted the conversation back toward Alice. "So, any guys that have caught your attention, Alice? Because it looks like you've already caught the interest of Forks High's star athletes. Emmett and Edward are the starting first baseman and centerfielder for the school's team," she explained in response to Alice's curious look. Clean up and leadoff batter, respectively."

Bella raised an eyebrow. She had had no idea Rosalie was so interested in any kind of school activity.

Rose shrugged at Bella's expression. "I love baseball. And since this state only has one team and they play their home games over three hours away, I have to get my fix where I can."

Alice grinned. "Well, we'll definitely have to go to some games in the Spring, then," she said cheerfully. "I used to go to all of the games at my old school. Of course, that was mostly because Jasper was the starting shortstop. My other half," she explained simply to Rose. "There's no one else for me but him. Edward and Emmett seem like they might be good friends to have but that's all. Jasper, well, he's just Jasper."

Rose and Bella shared an amused look as Alice trailed off into la la land thinking about her boyfriend and Bella couldn't help thinking that her initial assessment of Rose might have been a little harsh. Alice quickly came back from her daydream and the three spent the rest of the lunch period talking about different classes and teachers and places Alice wanted to explore over the weekend. When Rose and Alice began reminiscing about California, Bella was more than content to sit back and listen while she ate her lunch, happy to see how easily Alice seemed to be fitting in already.

* * *

On Friday morning, Bella opened the front door and almost immediately slammed it again. She then turned and quickly made her way upstairs to Alice's room. Alice was just slipping on her shoes when Bella reached the open door to her cousin's bedroom.

"Alice, there are some people here to see you," Bella said stiffly.

"Edward and Emmett? Oh, good." Alice bounced past Bella and poked her head around the staircase then turned to her cousin with a puzzled look. "Where are they?"

"On the front porch where I left them," Bella responded. "What I want to know is _why_ are they here?"

"You guys can come in," Alice called down the stairs and Bella heard the front door open and shut as the two boys entered her home. "They're my friends," Alice said as she returned her attention to Bella. "We're going to go pick up Rose and then they're going to show me around Forks."

"Hey, Swan, you coming with?" Emmett's voice boomed from downstairs.

Bella shuddered.

"You really don't like them, do you?" Alice said curiously.

Bella shook her head. "I don't have feelings about Emmett either way. But I can't stand Edward Cullen. He's been a jerk to me since we first moved here when I was nine and he's been tormenting me ever since."

"How?"

Bella sighed in exasperation. "Oh, how about the snake down the back of my shirt when we were in fourth grade?"

Alice giggled. "You certainly know how to hold a grudge."

"Trust me, that wasn't the only time," Bella said with a frown. "He's always doing stupid stuff to me. Like the phone calls, the constant kicking of my chair during History freshman year. Or how about when he shoved snow down the back of my jacket and sweater when I was on my way to take a test in first period history last year? I ended up being late to class and had to wear my gym shirt for the rest of the day. It was freezing."

"But why do you think he does all those things?"

"Because he's a jerk," Bella repeated. "A mean, hateful boy who gets his kicks out of picking on me."

Alice shook her head, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "Oh my dear cousin," she said. "You have so much to learn."

Bella did not look convinced and Alice quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, you should come. It'll be fun."

"And play fifth wheel? No, thanks," Bella responded.

"Bella, you wouldn't be fifth wheel. These guys are just my friends. Come on, it'll be fun," Alice pleaded.

"No, thank you, I have homework to do," Bella said firmly.

"All right, suit yourself," Alice said with a frown. "Call me if you change your mind, we can always come back and get you."

Bella only nodded, knowing she would do no such thing and Alice bounced down the stairs to join the boys. They called up their goodbyes to Bella and left, the door slamming behind them.

Bella wandered into her room, deciding to get her homework out of the way since she had nothing else to do. _Maybe I should have gone with them after all. Maybe it __**would**__ have been fun_. She frowned at the thought. Since when did she care about not being part of some stupid group outing? Especially a group outing with Edward Cullen and his idiot brother.

What she really should have done was offered to take Alice on a real sightseeing drive herself. Sure, she had shown her downtown and the school, but that was hardly exciting. She should have taken her to one of their beaches – not to swim, of course, it was far too cold for that, but the views were gorgeous. Or she could have taken her to Port Angeles. Somewhere fun that Alice would enjoy. That's what any good cousin would have done. With a sigh, she flopped down on her bed, picking up her history book. _Just another exciting day in the life of Bella Swan_.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Bella!" Alice's cheerful voice pulled Bella from a very contented sleep and she blinked as Alice pulled back the curtains on her bedroom windows.

"Ugh, what time is it?" Bella grumbled, turning her head toward her bedside clock. "9:00? Alice, it's Saturday morning, why are you up so early?"

"Because we're going shopping in Bremerton today, remember?" Alice said with a smile. "We talked about it on Sunday, you said we could go over the three day weekend."

Bella winced, remembering the conversation and her own promise to herself about helping her cousin feel at home. "Yeah, but Alice, I said Port Angeles, not Bremerton. That's, like, 2 ½ hours away."

"I know, but I looked at the malls in Port Angeles and there are a whole lot more stores at the one in Bremerton. Besides, I looked at the map – no way will it take me that long to get there."

Bella groaned, remembering her cousin's speedy driving to and from school, and she wondered if there was any way she could convince Alice to let her drive. Alice turned pleading eyes on her and Bella slowly rose from her bed. "Fine," she sighed. "Just let me shower first."

Alice cheered, clapping her hands as she jumped up and down happily. "I'll meet you downstairs in 20 minutes, okay? We need to go soon so we have time to get home and change before the dance tonight."

Bella looked at her cousin like she was speaking another language. "Dance?" she questioned blankly. "What dance?"

Alice smiled. "The dance at school, silly. The first one of the year from what I've heard. Now come on, go shower. I told Rose we'd pick her up in half an hour." Without waiting for a response, she left Bella's room and made her way downstairs.

"I'm not going to a school dance," Bella called. But Alice was either out of earshot or just ignoring her and didn't reply. Bella snorted to herself as she gathered her things for the shower. Was Alice crazy? Shopping was bad enough; there was no way in hell Bella was going to let Alice drag her to some stupid dance.

* * *

The dance looked pretty much the way Bella had imagined school dances: a table set up with drinks, popular music playing over the speakers, and large groups of students standing around talking.

Rose had wanted to take her own car so Alice had dropped her off before she and Bella had headed back to their house. They had stopped home only long enough to eat a quick dinner and change. Charlie had given her a sympathetic look but he hadn't said a word to stop his niece and Bella had glared at him as Alice all but dragged her out the door.

If Bella had had a choice, she probably would have turned right around and walked out, having no desire to walk into a large crowd of fellow students who still remained mostly strangers to her. Fortunately, Rose was waiting for them right inside the door and Bella had to admit she felt a little braver walking into the gym between the tall blonde and her tiny cousin. "Alice was right, Bella," Rose said as they wandered through the gym. "That color looks great on you."

"Thanks," Bella mumbled, unused to receiving compliments on her clothing. Apparently, Alice hadn't only wanted to shop for herself during their trip to the mall. After promising Bella that she wasn't trying to change her or her style and that she just wanted to see her in something other than the same t-shirt, jeans, and a hoodie every day, Alice had gone on a tear in several different shops, loading Bella's arms down with shirts, skirts, and jeans in every color and style. She hadn't let Bella pay for a thing, either, calling it a "thank you for putting up with me and putting me up" present.

Bella had been overwhelmed by the whole process but she had to admit that her cousin knew her stuff. The deep blue sleeveless shirt she was wearing was not something she ever would have picked out herself but the soft material was very comfortable and she actually liked it a lot. And she also really kind of liked the jeans that were a little more fitted than she usually wore but she had drawn the line at Alice trying to get her to change her shoes and she was glad she'd won the battle to keep her black Chucks on her feet.

Something seemed to catch Alice's attention and she quickly changed direction, Bella and Rose trying to follow after her as she disappeared into a large group of students. Somehow, Bella was separated from Rose and Alice in the crowd and when she turned to look for them she found herself face to face with Edward Cullen.

"Would you like to dance, Bella?"

"Not with you."

Edward's cocky expression disappeared for a moment and then he smiled at her. "Don't worry, I don't have a snake on me." Alice must have said something; there was no way Edward had remembered that himself. At her unyielding expression, he continued. "I'd really like to talk to you, Bella. Please?" He looked sincere and with a reluctant nod, Bella followed Edward onto the makeshift dance floor.

The song was a slow one and Edward took Bella's hands in his, draping her arms around his neck before slipping one of his arms around her waist while the other pressed against her back, holding her close to him. They danced in silence for a few moments and Bella grew more and more uneasy.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" she finally asked when it became clear that Edward was content to simply dance with her.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Bella pulled away from him. "I swear, if you brought me out here to pull one of your stupid stunts…" She trailed off, glaring up at him.

"No, Bella, that's not why." Edward looked frustrated a moment. "I know I've done stupid stuff to you but that's in the past. Really," he added in response to her disbelieving expression. "Besides, it wouldn't exactly endear me to your cousin if I stuck another snake down your shirt."

Bella looked at Edward questioningly, still not quite understanding where he was going with this and Edward sighed. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you? I like Alice, Bella."

Relieved, Bella smiled up at him. "Oh. Well, that's nice, Edward."

Edward laughed softly. "I thought that might ease your mind a bit. And, you know, I'd really rather have you on my side than closing the door in my face."

Bella smiled in spite of herself and Edward smiled back. "Would you do me a favor?" he continued. "Please don't say anything to her. I don't want her to know yet."

Bella acquiesced with a nod. "You do know she has a boyfriend, though, right?"

"Yeah, Jasper. But I think they're gonna see other people or something. Besides, he's down in L.A. and I'm here."

Given the way Alice talked about Jasper, Bella doubted that was going to matter much or that Edward had much of a chance but she didn't want to get into it. "Oh," was all she could think to say.

"And, well, I know I've done some stupid stuff to you, Bella, so I just wanted to say I'm sorry and that's all in the past." Bella raised an eyebrow and Edward smiled slightly. "Cross my heart. Friends?" Bella just continued to look at him silently. "All right, how about allies, then?"

"How about I let you in my house and don't say anything bad about you to Alice?" Bella countered.

Edward smiled full on this time. "Never were one for backing down, were you?" he said fondly. "Deal." The song had ended by then and they began walking back toward Emmett, Rose, and Alice. Bella followed behind Edward, looking around the gym to see if Angela was there anywhere. Suddenly, her gaze landed on something that caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

From her spot nearby where Alice had been watching Edward and Bella, she followed her cousin's line of vision and saw Jordan Rivers standing in the doorway. Quickly, she headed over to Bella's side. "Come on, let's go say hello," she suggested to Bella.

Bella caught her breath. "Alice, I couldn't," she whispered.

"Come on," Alice repeated, taking her arm. "We'll just walk in that general direction. We'll go to the bathroom or something and we can just say hi when we pass him. He's staring at you anyway, I'm sure he wants to talk to you or dance or something."

Alice started toward the door and Bella hurried to keep up with her as her cousin kept a firm grip on her arm. The two were only a few feet from Jordan when he turned and headed down the hall, pushing open the outside door and disappearing into the night.

Bella and Alice stood staring after him for a moment and Alice frowned slightly. There was something about Jordan Rivers that was just too surreal for her liking. As far as she was concerned, her cousin needed a guy who was fun, a guy who seemed like he was actually _there_. She glanced over at Bella who seemed a little dazed and she tugged on her arm. "Come on."

Bella followed behind her and soon they rejoined Rose, Emmett, and Edward. Rose was standing slightly away from the boys talking to Angela and Emmett grinned as they approached. "Come on, Swan," he said taking her hand. "You danced with the other one, now you have to dance with the talented, handsome Cullen brother."

Bella smiled weakly but didn't protest, following Emmett out onto the floor. After making sure Rose and Angela were still involved in conversation, Alice moved slightly away from the pair, motioning for Edward to follow her. When they were out of Rose's earshot, Alice finally spoke.

"So did you tell her?"

"Yeah," Edward responded. "She thinks I'm interested in you."

"Perfect," Alice said, clapping her hands together in satisfaction.

"I don't know, Alice," Edward said, a troubled look on his face. "I really don't want to lie to Bella. It doesn't exactly seem like a great foundation for a relationship."

"Look, Edward, I consider myself a very good judge of character. And I think you're a great guy and you and Bella would be perfect together. Unfortunately, you've spent the last however many years being an idiot to my cousin. She thinks you just like to torture her, you know – it's not like you ever said, hey, I like you, wanna go out? Can you think of any other way she'll let you around her so you can show her what a good guy you really are?"

Edward grimaced. "I guess not, but-"

"But nothing," Alice said, cutting him off. "Just give it time, this is your best shot to make this work. Your past actions haven't exactly endeared you to her. Shoving snow down her shirt on her way into school one morning? That was so not a good move on your part."

Edward ducked his head. "I know, it was stupid," he admitted. "I tried to give her my jacket later, but of course she wouldn't take it."

"For some reason, she left that part out," Alice responded dryly.

Edward decided to change the subject. "So what about Emmett?" he asked. "Do you think he actually has a chance with Rosalie?"

Alice scrunched up her face a moment in thought. "You know, he just might," she said finally. "As long as he realizes there is so much more to Rose than her beautiful outside. Trust me, she'll surprise you," she added with a grin as she watched Emmett twirl Bella out on the dance floor.

After a few more dances, Alice could see that Bella was getting tired and she suggested they head home. Rose, Emmett, and Edward all decided it was time to leave as well and the five headed out to the parking lot together, laughing at Emmett and Alice who were teasing each other about their respective dancing skills.

Rose stopped at a shiny black car. "This is me, guys. I'll see you later."

"Holy shit." Emmett's jaw dropped comically as Rose unlocked the driver's side door. "That's **yours**?"

"After all the time I spent rebuilding the engine this summer, you'd better believe it," Rose said.

"But that's a 1967 Shelby." Emmett's eyes practically bugged out as he processed what Rose had said. "You built the engine?"

"Oh my God, Rose!" Alice exclaimed, touching the hood of the car gently. "I thought we were friends, how could you not tell me about this? How long have you had it? When do I get to go for a ride in it?"

Rose couldn't help smiling at what she already knew to be Alice's typical over the top reaction. "A little over two years. It took me nearly all of that time to get it in perfect driving condition."

"How come I've never seen it in the parking lot?" Emmett demanded. "I know I would have noticed it."

Rose scoffed. "You think I'm going to let my baby sit in a parking lot filled with a bunch of kids who can't drive and the rust buckets they call cars?" She glanced over at Bella. "No offense."

Bella shrugged. "None taken."

"Sorry, Eddie, I'm riding with Rose. If that's all right with you," Emmett added almost shyly as he turned to Rose.

She shrugged. "If you like." Her attitude was deliberately casual but neither Bella, Alice, nor Edward missed the lightning fast smile that crossed her lips.

The two groups exchanged their goodbyes – Alice making Rose promise to take her for a ride in the gorgeous vehicle at some point in the near future – and Edward, Bella, and Alice headed for Alice's car. As Alice unlocked the car with her key fob, Edward stepped forward and opened the front passenger door of the car, gesturing for Bella to get in.

Bella eyed him suspiciously but he only smiled back at her and continued holding the door. Still watching him warily, Bella attempted to slip quickly into the car, banging her head on the doorframe as she did so.

Edward ducked his head down inside the car. "Are you all right, Bella?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Bella said sharply, gently rubbing her aching forehead.

Smiling ruefully down at her, Edward stepped back, bidding the girls goodnight before he shut the door.

When the girls reached home, Bella gratefully took the first turn in the bathroom when Alice offered it and quickly got ready for bed, changing into her pajamas and falling into bed when she reached her room. Ten minutes later, Bella was finishing up a chapter in her book and ready to go to sleep when her door opened and Alice practically danced into the room.

Bella shook her head in amazement at her cousin's energy but she was smiling as Alice flopped down on the end of the bed. "I'm exhausted; how are you still so awake? Don't you ever just relax?" she asked, setting her book on her bedside table.

"I relax when I sleep," Alice responded with a smile. "So, what'd you think of the dance?"

Bella shrugged. "It wasn't so bad, I guess."

"And what about Emmett and Edward? They're not so bad, either, huh?"

"Okay, maybe Emmett's not so bad. He's pretty funny," Bella conceded. It wasn't like Emmett had ever done anything to her anyway; she couldn't really blame him for his brother's stupid antics.

Alice smiled triumphantly. "And what about Edward?"

Bella started to say something and stopped, remembering her conversation with Edward. "We'll see."


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: Sisterhood  
**By**: Liz  
**Chapter**: 3  
**Rating**: M  
**Disclaimers**: The characters are not mine, I'm just having fun playing with them. General story idea based on Beverly Sommers' _The Meaning of Sisterhood_.  
**Author's Notes**: Chapter 3. Finally. Sorry about the wait. There may be a bit of OOC-ness but all of our favorites are here and all canon couples are included. And just in case my description sucks, I've included a link to "The Drop Zone" in my profile.  
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, it really means a lot to me (and LondonLi, I totally agree with you!). For my sister, Lisey, who should probably have co-authorship of this by now with all the help she's been talking me down off the ledge on this one. She definitely has godmother-ship over it!

* * *

Bella couldn't get over how much her life had changed in just the two short weeks since Alice had moved to Forks. Things at home were certainly different.

Charlie actually sat at the dinner table and talked to the girls instead of just shoveling down his food and running into the living room to watch whatever game was on that night. And even when they did eat in front of the television with a game on the screen, Charlie no longer had his laser like focus on the sporting event and would still engage in conversation with Bella and Alice.

At school, people suddenly seemed to assume that since Alice was so friendly, Bella must be as well. Other students who had gone to school with Bella for years and never spoken to her were suddenly saying hi to her in the hallways.

Bella's lunch table was suddenly very different as well. Instead of a solitary table where she could read or catch up on homework, she was now joined by Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Edward. Angela occasionally joined them as well along with Ben Cheney, whom she had recently started dating.

For the first few days, Bella had been suspicious of Edward and had kept a wary eye on him but after a few days without any acts of stupidity on his part, she had allowed herself to relax a little around him and the two even engaged in the occasional short conversation. She had to admit, to herself at least, that maybe it wasn't so bad having Edward around when she didn't have to worry about him pulling some stupid prank on her. He was kind of funny, after all. And, she soon found out, a lot smarter than she had ever given him credit for.

One day, Bella was in the cafeteria far earlier than the other members of her table, as her fourth period class had been dismissed early. She was rereading _Pride and Prejudice_ for the thousandth time at her empty lunch table when a voice came from above her.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Bella looked up at Edward, stunned, and he grinned at the expression on her face as he took a seat across from her. "I _have_ taken an English class or two, Swan."

Bella blushed. "Sorry."

"And it is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

Bella stared at Edward like he had grown a second head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, you mean you've never read _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_?" Edward said innocently as he opened his can of soda and took a drink.

Bella gave Edward a look, certain he was just messing with her. "Somehow, I seemed to have missed that literary masterpiece," she said dryly as she tucked her book into her bag. "Let me guess, it's a comic book with the Bennet sisters dressed in revealing clothing, blood and gore and explosions, and no actual relation to the book itself beyond the name."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "For someone who's such a fan of the book, I wouldn't think you'd be so quick to judge." Bella flushed slightly, unwilling to admit that Edward had a point. "It's a book, Bella," he added as Rose and Alice approached their table. "You should give it a chance; it might surprise you."

Bella did her best to ignore Edward for the rest of the lunch period and the conversation was not revisited the next day at lunch, either. However, when she got home from school the following day and went to do her homework, she discovered that a copy of _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ had been stuck into her bag at some point during the day. She smiled in spite of herself as she thumbed through it and her homework was soon forgotten as she quickly got lost in the book.

Though she hated to admit it, Edward had been right. The book was very well written, seamlessly adding zombies and humor to the well loved classic, and she found herself laughing out loud more than once. Alice even stuck her head in her cousin's room at one point to see what Bella was giggling about but when Bella tried to explain the concept of Jane Austen and zombies Alice only grinned and shook her head, heading back to her own room to finish up her Trig homework.

When Bella arrived at her lunch table the next day, Edward was already seated and she slid the book across the table to him as she took her seat. "You were right," she told him. "It was good."

She had fully steeled herself for an "I told you so" from Edward, but he only smiled. "Keep it, I have my own copy at home. Glad you liked it."

Bella looked at him closely a moment before she retrieved the book and returned it to her bag. "Okay, I may or may not have been laughing out loud at some parts of it," she admitted, taking a bite of her apple.

Edward grinned. "It certainly made the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy that much more interesting." Bella smiled back, Edward's demeanor and the subject matter causing her to relax, and the two spent the rest of the lunch period talking about the book and laughing at the tongue in cheek "discussion questions" in the back of the book. They all but ignored their other lunch time companions who observed the animated interaction between the two with a mixture of amusement, confusion, and, on Alice's part at least, no small measure of satisfaction.

* * *

Alice seemed incapable of sitting still and appeared to be happiest when she was involved in some kind of activity with her friends. Which was why, the weekend following Edward and Bella's _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ conversation, Bella found herself standing by the racetrack at Frankie's Fun Park, a nearby indoor/outdoor arcade/amusement park.

The park was normally a place for families with children or couples and the only other time Bella had ever been there had been for Jessica Stanley's ninth birthday party. She had still been new in town but Jessica had invited everyone in the class and Charlie had thought it would be a good opportunity for Bella to make friends. Not wanting to let Charlie down, Bella had gone but had kept to the sidelines and spent the entire time wishing she were at home with her books. Somehow, even though she had managed to get out of the go-karts the others were now riding, Bella doubted Alice was going to let her sit out anything else that day.

She was proven right when the moment they came off the race track, Alice insisted that the five of them ride the Drop Zone together. The Drop Zone was a ride where the riders sat five across and were harnessed into seats. The platform supporting the seats then rose slowly into the air before plunging several stories only to stop and rise again to drop the riders over and over.

Bella eyed the ride warily as Alice dragged her over to the short waiting line. "Alice, that thing's, like, 20 feet high."

"Thirty," Alice replied cheerfully. "Come on!" And before she really knew what was happening, Bella found herself strapped into the hard plastic seats between Alice and Edward.

As the attendant came around to make sure that everyone was secure, Edward noticed that Bella seemed a little paler than usual. "Not a fan of heights?" he asked her quietly.

Bella shook her head nervously. "It's not so much the heights as it is _falling_ from the heights," she admitted.

"Here." Edward reached over and took her hand in his. "If it's too much, just squeeze my hand, okay?"

Too nervous to even think about how out of character Edward's offer was, Bella swallowed and nodded, gripping his hand tightly as the ride began its ascent, closing her eyes as they rose higher and higher. When their carriage reached the top, it stopped momentarily and Bella drew in a sharp breath, squeezing Edward's hand so tightly he thought for a moment she might break his fingers. Then the ride dropped, plunging downward before stopping just short of the ground and rising up again. When they dropped again, Edward realized Bella was no longer holding his hand. In fact, her arms were above her head and she was screaming in delight as the ride dropped and rose again.

When the ride was finally finished and the restraining bars released them, Bella practically jumped down from her seat. "That was fun!" she exclaimed, exhilarated. "Can we go again?"

Edward laughed, shaking his head at Bella's sudden change of heart, but Alice grabbed her cousin's arm and started to drag her off again. "It's time for mini-golf!" she called over her shoulder to her friends. The others shared an amused look at Alice's antics before they followed the cousins to the indoor mini golf course.

Alice did actually plan some more sedentary activities for the group as well. The day after their adventures at the park, she invited everyone over to their house and the five of them spent the day sprawled around the living room watching movies.

Alice declared it a "comedy only" day and gave Bella first pick of movies. Bella went with _Zoolander_, one of her favorites. To her surprise, it appeared to be one of Edward's favorites as well and the two spent a good portion of the movie quoting their favorite lines and entire scenes when they came up.

As the credits rolled, the two began discussing the rumors of a sequel to the comedy and began arguing the pros and cons of such an idea. They were still discussing it several minutes into the second movie when Emmett threw a pillow from the couch at them, whining that they were talking over the movie.

"See, I knew we should have gone with _The Fast and the Furious_," Emmett grumbled. "It's too loud and too good for you two to have been having this stupid conversation."

"Yeah, but Emmett, when Alice said comedy, I think she meant movies that _intended_ to be funny," Bella said innocently. Edward nearly fell over laughing at Bella's statement and Alice and Rose snickered behind Emmett's back as well.

Emmett opened his mouth to defend one of his favorite movies but Rose was faster. "I would just like to remind you all," she said, cutting Emmett off, "that in spite of Emmett's dreams of Vin Diesel and fast cars, the next pick is actually mine. So if you guys don't behave, I will put you all in chick flick hell." The threat – though empty, as Rose later confessed to Bella and Alice that chick flicks made her nauseous as a general rule – was dire enough to quiet everyone down and they returned to the movie in relative silence.

That night, after everyone had left and Bella was trying to finish up some homework she had not yet gotten to as a result of her active weekend, she found her thoughts drifting back over the events of the weekend. Despite the fact that she still definitely liked to spend time alone in her room with a book, she had actually had a good time really good time with everyone, and she found she was beginning to feel slightly more comfortable with her new group of friends.

Of course, as she soon found out, in a school as small as the high school was, Bella wasn't the only one to notice the sudden change in her social life.

On Tuesday, Bella was with Rose at her locker following their second period Spanish class when she thought she heard someone say her name. A few lockers down from her, Julianne Kaplan and Tiffany Regent were standing with their heads close together, talking animatedly and snickering.

She distinctly heard the words _Edward Cullen, crush, and __**her**_ and when she looked over at the two girls, she saw that they were looking right at her. They stared at her for a moment before turning away and starting to talk again. This time they were loud enough for Bella to hear every word they said.

"You should see how she hangs all over him," Julianne said. "It's so pathetic."

"I know, right?" Tiffany replied. "She's so out of her league."

Bella flushed a deep red as she tried desperately to think of a cutting response. However, before she could say a word, Rose turned and looked directly at the two girls.

"You know what's really pathetic? Jealous bitches who spend all their time talking shit about other people in order to feel better about their own sad little lives." The two girls glared at Rose but wisely did not respond, turning away in a huff and walking off without another word. "God, what is it with people?" Rose said, returning her attention to Bella. "You'd think they'd be more worried about their own relationships than about you and Edward getting together."

"Um, yeah, about that," Bella said nervously.

"What? Bella, don't let those asshats bother you – you guys are great together."

"Yeah, it's really not like that." Rose stared at Bella uncomprehendingly and Bella sighed. "He likes Alice. He's only being nice to me so I won't sabotage his chances with her or whatever. But he's definitely not interested in me. Trust me, he has never liked me and I can't stand him, either."

Rose's eyes narrowed, glinting dangerously. "Oh, really? So the Cullen boys like playing games, do they?" she muttered to herself. "I'll see you later, Bella," she said, turning and quickly making her way down the hall.

"Rose, wait," Bella called weakly. But Rose was already too far away to hear her and Bella closed her locker, resting her head against it for a moment. Rose had looked pissed and she mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that things weren't about to get even more complicated.

Edward was just closing his locker when he heard something slam into the locker next to his. He jumped slightly at the sudden noise, turning to see an extremely pissed off Rosalie Hale standing right next to him.

"So you're just pretending to be nice to Bella to get to Alice, is that it?" she said. She spoke quietly but Edward didn't miss the dangerous undertone in her voice. "Is this how you Cullen boys amuse yourselves? Make everyone around you think you like one girl when in reality, you're going after another?"

Edward's eyes widened as he realized what she was asking. "No, Rosalie, I swear this is not what you're thinking." Shit. Emmett was going to kill him.

"And just what am I thinking?"

"Emmett has nothing to do with any of this, I promise you."

Rose didn't look convinced and Edward hurried to explain. "Look, this is all because of me, okay?" He lowered his voice. "I like Bella but she can't stand me – I've always kind of been an idiot around her – so Alice came up with a plan for me to pretend to like **her** so that Bella would let me be around her. Believe me, Emmett didn't know a thing about this until about a few days ago. He thinks I'm being a pussy but he has nothing to do with it and his interest in you is certainly not part of any game."

He stopped to take a breath and smiled. "I mean, you should have heard him going on and on about you the other night. He wouldn't shut up about how amazing you are and all the incredible stuff you did to fix up your Shelby. Trust me, Rosalie. My brother may be a dumbass about a lot of things, but when it comes to you, he knows you're something special."

Edward could have sworn that Rose was blushing for a moment before she quickly changed the subject. "And what about Bella?"

"I've liked Bella for as long as I can remember," Edward admitted. "She's just, well, she's just kind of amazing. She's the smartest girl I've ever met, she's beautiful, and she does her own thing no matter what the people around her are doing."

Rose noticed the way his eyes lit up and how his voice sounded almost reverent when he was describing Bella and she smiled to herself. The boy had it bad. "So why couldn't you have just asked her out in the first place?" she asked. "Why all the stupid game playing?"

Edward sighed. "Believe me, it was not my idea, but Alice thinks it's the only way Bella will let me anywhere near her and give me a chance to prove I'm not the asshole she thinks I am. As for just asking her out, well, a lot of guys have tried in the past. She would just very politely turn them down and that was it. Eventually, everyone just stopped trying."

Rose was silent a moment as she thought about all Edward had told her. "So what exactly did you do to make Bella dislike you?"  
Edward shrugged, looking embarrassed. "Well, see, Bella's never reacted the way other girls do when I tease them or give them shit. Even when we were kids, she didn't scream or cry or back down. I guess since, you know, I couldn't ever get a reaction out of her, I just tried that much harder."

So since he didn't know how to get a good reaction out of her, he figured a bad one was better than nothing? Rose shook her head. "You know, for a smart guy, you're kind of an idiot."

Edward's cheeks flushed. "Yeah, I know that now, thanks, Rose."

Rose laughed at the chagrined expression on Edward's face before turning serious again. "Look, I trust Alice," she said. "So if she's a part of this, then I'm not going to say anything to Bella. But don't fuck this up," she warned him. "Bella is one of the few nice, decent people I've met in my life and I don't want to see her hurt."

"I won't," Edward promised. "I swear to you, hurting Bella is the last thing I want to do."

* * *

Bella was on her way to her fourth period English class when Rose fell into step next to her. "So I talked to Edward," she began casually.

Bella tensed momentarily. "And what did he say?"

"He said you agreed to let him hang around and that you wouldn't sabotage his chances with Alice."

"Oh." Bella could think of nothing else to say, her mind still slightly stunned by the fact that Rosalie Hale had just stood up for her. Twice.

"If that's not true, I have no problem going back and kicking his ass," Rose offered, watching Bella's face carefully for her reaction.

"What? No! No, it's true." Bella bowed her head. "Bet you think I'm pretty stupid, huh?"

"No, not really."

Bella looked up at Rose curiously. "I think it's cool you're trying to do something nice for your cousin. Maybe you're not going about it the best way, but your heart's in the right place. Especially since you said you can't stand him."

"Right, yeah," Bella agreed weakly.

Part of Bella wished Rose would just go kick Edward's ass. Then maybe this whole awful thing would be over and she could go back to her normal life. An even larger part of her, though, was glad Rose was going along with the plan since she really didn't want to see Edward hurt.

She shook her head at herself at the thought. Where had that come from? Why was she suddenly concerned about Edward's well being? She groaned internally. This little game of his could not end fast enough.

* * *

That Friday, Alice invited Rose to spend the night and she rode home with the two cousins after last period. After a dinner of Chinese takeout, the girls headed up to Alice's room to figure out what to do with the rest of their evening. Alice and Rose were going to share Alice's bed and since Alice had insisted they all had to sleep in the same room for it to really be a sleepover, Bella had set up an air mattress in her cousin's room for herself which she dropped onto when they reached the room. "So full," she groaned, closing her eyes and holding her stomach.

Alice laughed. "No moo shu induced food coma yet," she told her cousin, nudging her with her foot. "The night's still young. What are we going to do with it?"

"Remember, it's Forks," Bella said, her eyes still closed. "So our options are pretty much limited to TV, renting a movie, or hanging out at the café. I imagine it's going to take awhile to get used to this after LA."

Alice shrugged. "I don't know, I miss Jazz like crazy of course, but Forks definitely has its charm. What about you, Rose? Do you miss San Diego?"

"No," Rose said immediately.

Alice and Bella were both surprised. "That was fast," Bella said, looking up at the blonde who was perched on the bed next to Alice. "It took me years to get used to this place after Phoenix with all the rain and lack of sun here."

"How long ago did you move here?" Alice asked curiously.

"Last March, beginning of the fourth semester."

Alice scrunched up her face. "That **is** fast. And that's a shitty time to move," she added. "Did one of your parents get transferred or something?"

"That was part of it," Rose said. "The other part was, well, you could say I had a falling out with a teacher," she said finally.

"Must have been pretty bad if it made you move all the way up here," Bella couldn't help saying.

Rose grimaced. "You have no idea."

At Rose's comment, Bella realized she was right. She really **did** have no idea of what Rose's life had been like before she had moved to Forks the previous spring. She knew, thanks to Alice, that the blonde had lived in San Diego prior to Forks but she had no idea why she had moved, if she had left friends or a boyfriend behind, or anything of the sort.

However, she didn't feel comfortable asking Rose such personal questions this early in their friendship. Fortunately, Alice had no such reservations. "What happened?" she asked Rose quietly.

Rose took a deep breath and looked from Alice to Bella. "Just between us?"

"Among," Bella couldn't help blurting out.

"What?" Rose and Alice looked at Bella like she was speaking in tongues and Bella blushed.

"It's just, you can't be between more than two things," Bella explained. "Then it becomes among."

"You're such a dork," Alice said affectionately, throwing a pillow at her cousin.

Rose smiled briefly. "Okay, well, then, do you guys promise to keep what I'm about to say among the three of us?"

The two girls promised and Rose took another deep breath before she began speaking. "I grew up in San Diego right on the beach. I had a lot of friends, played volleyball, took trips to Mexico and Catalina Island. All very teenage dream, I guess, but I don't miss it one bit.

"See, there was this really popular teacher at my school, Mr. Caraway, that I had for European History my sophomore year. He was young, pretty laid back, kind of hot, always tried to make class interesting. He was the faculty for the newspaper, too, and everyone in my school pretty much adored him, me included.

"And then one day, right after we got back from Christmas break, my best friend Maya took me aside during our free period and told me she was in love. I was surprised because she'd never been the type to get all silly about guys but I told her I was happy for her. Until she told me who it was. Apparently, she and Mr. Caraway – Jonathan, she called him – were in love and had started sleeping together. Didn't matter to her that he was our teacher or 15 years older than we were. Didn't matter, either, that he was married with a baby at home.

"I told her it was a bad idea and she needed to break it off immediately. She begged me not to say anything to anyone, said they were so in love and once she graduated, they were going to be together. I didn't like it but I told myself I'd keep an eye on her and I promised her I wouldn't say anything. And I didn't. Until that jerk tried to force himself on me one day after school.

"I reported him to the principal and the school board that same day, about what he had tried to do to me and that he was currently involved in a sexual relationship with a student. They both denied it, of course. Maya even started a rumor among the students that I had been the one to come on to Mr. Caraway and when he rejected me, I made up this story to get back at him. Fortunately, the school board was cautious enough to put him on paid leave while they investigated and they found enough dirt to fire him. But it sure as hell didn't make me popular. No one at school, including the people I had thought were my friends, would talk to me. My locker was broken into and all my shit was stolen, people called our house at all hours of the day and night, our house was egged. It wasn't what you'd call the most fun time in my life. The second time someone slashed the tires on my mom's car, she finally had it. Her job had been offering her a transfer anyway so she took it and we moved up here."

Bella and Alice sat in silent shock for a moment, digesting what Rose had just shared with them. So much about the way she held herself apart from everyone else made sense now and Bella felt guilt course through her for her earlier judgment of her friend. "Well, we're both very glad you're here," Alice said finally, leaning over to give Rose a quick hug. Bella nodded in agreement.

"Rose, I'm-"

"Please don't say you're sorry, Bella." Rose cut her off.

Bella nodded. "That sucks," she said instead.

Rose nodded back. "Yeah, it did, but in the end, I guess it was for the best. I mean, I found out that those people weren't really my friends after all and I moved up here and met you guys so it evens out."

"And don't forget Emmett," Alice added with a wicked grin. "I'm sure he'd like to help even it out a bit more."

Rose rolled her eyes but she couldn't help smiling as she gently shoved Alice away from her. The three girls giggled and the heavy mood that had been present in the room only seconds before quickly dissipated as the girls returned to planning their laid back Friday night.

* * *

The Monday following the girls' sleepover, Edward and Emmett were walking down the hallway at school together. Emmett was, for the hundredth time, trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to ask Rosalie out.

"Do you think I should ask her to go somewhere with just me instead of the group?" Emmett asked. "I think she likes me but she's so hard to read and I don't want to freak her out or something. I mean, I know we're all friends and that's cool but, you know, I kind of want more than that with her."

Edward smiled to himself. Emmett would kill him if he told anyone how "girly" he was acting about Rose. "I think you should just ask her," Edward replied. "You can just make it pretty casual if you're afraid of what she'll think."

Any further conversation was cut off as they approached Mark Price and a few other guys hanging out at a bank of lockers. Mark was on the football team and the brothers knew him from classes over the years and most of the wilder weekend parties but they were definitely more casual acquaintances than anything approaching friends. So they were both a little surprised when Mark's face lit up as they approached.

"There he is!" Mark cried, grinning wildly. "Nice job, Cullen!" he said to Emmett, holding up his hand for a high five. "I should have known if anybody could do it, it'd be you!"

Emmett smiled gamely, hitting Mark's upraised hand. "What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know," Mark said, nudging the boy next to him. "The ice queen, man. Hale. We all gave up trying but you finally did it, you got in her pants."

"Emmett," Edward said quietly, trying unsuccessfully to move Emmett away from the group, knowing just where this was heading.

"Excuse me?" Emmett's voice was dangerously calm but Mark was too busy playing to the crowd of guys around him to notice the warning signs.

Mark laughed and slapped Emmett on the back. "So, she as good as they say, man?" he asked, pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek and raising his fist near his face to simulate oral sex.

The crude words had just left his lips when Emmett slammed him up against the lockers, pinning Mark there with his forearm across the other boy's throat.

"I don't _ever_ want to hear you say anything like that about Rosalie again, do you understand?" Emmett snarled. "You treat women with respect. If I ever hear you say or even _imply_ something like that about Rose or any other woman in this school-"

"Emmett."

Emmett, Edward, and the rest of the group turned to see Rose, Alice, and Bella standing a few feet away, staring at the scene before them. Emmett dropped Mark to the floor and the other boy sat there in a heap as Rose approached the group.

Walking purposefully to Emmett's side, Rose leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. Emmett stared at her, a stunned smile spreading across his face as Rose smiled back at him. She took Emmett's hand in her own and with a withering look down at Mark, she and Emmett walked down the hall together hand in hand.

Eventually, Mark struggled to his feet. "Dude, what the _fuck_?"

Emmett and Rose were well out of earshot by then and Edward just looked at him a moment before shaking his head. Bella and Alice could see his lips moving from where they stood but his words were too quiet for them to hear. They seemed to have the desired effect on Mark, though, as he clamped his mouth shut and hurried away from Edward, his friends following behind as they passed the girls without a word.

Edward watched the boys' retreat before his eyes met Bella's. He smiled at her, nodding his head slightly before turning and walking down the hallway.

* * *

Following the incident with Mark, Rose and Emmett moved into official couple status. And while Bella was happy for them, she was also relieved to see that dating didn't seem to change the way the two behaved around the rest of the group. She wasn't sure she could stomach the groping and making out that seemed so popular with a number of the other couples at the school.

This became especially relevant in the two weeks leading up to Halloween as Alice's latest idea had the group spending nearly every free moment together both in and outside of school.

A few weeks before Halloween, Alice asked Emmett and Edward about holding a Halloween party at their house the Saturday before the holiday. The boys didn't need much convincing and Alice immediately jumped into full planning mode. She even planned each of the girls' costumes, basing them on _Alice in Wonderland_. Rose was going as the Red Queen while Bella would be the White Queen. Alice, naturally, would be dressed as Alice.

Big crowds of people – and with most of the students at Forks High apparently planning to attend, the crowd would indeed be large – were definitely not Bella's favorite thing and she wasn't terribly thrilled with the idea of the party when Alice first broached it to the group. Alice, however, dragged everyone right into the planning process with her and with all of the planning and supply shopping, Bella's initial feelings about the gathering quickly changed. In fact, her cousin's enthusiasm was so contagious that a few days before the party rolled around, Bella found herself actually looking forward to it.

The day before the party, however, Bella woke up with a pounding headache. She took some ibuprofen with breakfast, hoping she would feel better by the time she and Alice reached school, but by the time lunch rolled around, she wasn't feeling any better as her body had started to ache along with her head and she found that even on the unseasonably warm October day, she couldn't seem to get warm.

She managed to keep up a good front as everyone began talking excitedly about the party but Edward had noticed that something was wrong the moment she sat down at the lunch table. He waited until the others' attention was focused on Alice and her last minute details before he nudged Bella gently. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked quietly.

Bella shook her head, wincing as the motion increased the pounding in her head. "Not really," she mumbled.

"You don't look so good," Edward told her, still keeping his voice low so the others couldn't hear their conversation. "You should probably get out of here. I have free next period, I can take you home."

Bella tried to protest but her head felt so heavy. If she could just lay it down for a minute, maybe have a quick nap, she'd feel fine. "I guess," she mumbled.

She was vaguely aware that Edward turned and spoke with Alice for a moment before he was suddenly at her side, helping her from her chair. She gave her friends a weak wave as Edward swung her backpack over his shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist as he led her from the cafeteria. "We're going to swing by the nurse's office first so we can get you a pass," he told her.

Bella mumbled her agreement, leaning heavily on Edward as he led her down the hall to the nurse's office.

When they reached the office, Edward explained to the nurse that Bella wasn't feeling well and he was going to take her home so she could get some rest. "What a good boyfriend," the nurse said with a smile as she handed Edward two passes. "You feel better, Bella," she said kindly.

Bella was too miserable to correct the nurse's assumption and she just smiled fleetingly before she let Edward lead her from the room.

When they reached the parking lot and Edward's car, he opened the passenger door and helped Bella get settled in, even helping with her seat belt before he closed her door and headed around to the driver's side. After he climbed into the car and closed his door, Edward reached into the backseat and grabbed a sweatshirt which he quickly folded up into a square and handed to Bella. "I don't have any pillows but this is pretty soft," he said by way of explanation. Bella managed a faint smile before she wedged the sweatshirt between her shoulder and the passenger side window, resting her head heavily against the soft fabric.

She dozed on and off during the short ride to her house and didn't even realize they had arrived until Edward gently shook her shoulder. "Bella," he said quietly. "We're here."

Dazed, Bella's thoughts took a moment to come back into focus before she reached down and unhooked her seatbelt. The next thing she knew, Edward was opening her door and offering her his hand. She took it, grasping it tightly as she pulled herself from the car.

At the front door, she pulled out her keys, struggling with them for a moment before Edward took them from her hand and opened the door, leading her inside to the kitchen. Bella practically collapsed into a kitchen chair while Edward rummaged through the cabinets to find a glass and some cold medicine.

When he'd located what he needed, he filled the glass with water and opened the blister pack in the cold medicine box, handing Bella two pills and the water. She forced herself to not think about how much she hated taking pills and quickly swallowed them, finishing off the entire glass of water while she was at it.

Edward took the empty glass from her and put it in the sink. "You should really get some rest."

Bella swallowed a groan. She knew Edward was right, but the thought of moving even the slightest bit at the moment seemed like way too much of an effort. Bracing her hands against the table, she pushed herself to her feet. She staggered a bit as she stood but Edward was quickly at her side to steady her and she managed to avoid ending up on her butt. He guided her up the stairs and, after she gestured vaguely toward her door, led her into her bedroom.

"Do you need to change?" Edward asked. "I can, um, I can go downstairs."

Bella just shook her head wearily, picking up her pajama pants and tank top from the bed where she'd left them that morning. "I'll be right back," she muttered.

As she headed to the bathroom to change, the fact that Edward Cullen was in her bedroom struck her as beyond strange but she was feeling too lousy to think about it for long. She stripped off her clothes and pulled on her pajamas, pausing a moment to splash cool water on her face. The fast acting cold and flu tablets seemed to already be kicking in and Bella felt a bit out of it as she returned to her room.

Edward had already pulled the covers back on her bed and he was immediately by her side as she stumbled into her room, guiding her to her bed. She hated feeling so weak but she was grateful for Edward's presence as he helped her get settled under her covers.

She had just laid her aching head on her pillow when something occurred to her. "Fuck. The party," she mumbled.

"Don't worry, there will be other parties. For now, just focus on getting better."

"Alice is gonna kill me."

Edward smiled gently. "I'm sure she'll forgive you. And if not, I'll protect you."

"She's pretty…feisty," Bella replied through a yawn. "Sure you can take her?"

Edward laughed. "No," he admitted. He glanced over at the clock on Bella's nightstand and she heard him swear under his breath. "I have to get back for a quiz next period," he told her, regret clear on his face. "But I talked to Alice while you were changing and she and Rose are going to skip last period and come home so you won't be alone for too long. Will you be okay on your own for a little while?"

Bella almost laughed at the absurdity of the question. She was good at being on her own; it was something she was used to. The part of all of this that wasn't normal was Edward's presence in her room.

"Maybe I can just talk to Mrs. Cooper on Monday and she'll let me retake the test," Edward said as he studied Bella's face. "I can be pretty persuasive," he added with a grin.

"Got yourself into my bedroom, didn't you?" she teased. Then she caught herself. What was she doing? Was she _flirting_ with Edward Cullen? No, no she definitely was _not_. It was just the cold medicine making her so loopy that she didn't even know what she was saying. "Go," she told him. "I promise I'll be fine."

Edward still looked reluctant. "If you're sure."

Bella started to nod but stopped when her head started to throb. "Alice and Rose will be here soon," she reminded him. "I'll be fine."

"All right," Edward said, still not looking too happy about the idea. "Feel better, Bella."

"Thanks, Edward," she mumbled.

"You're welcome," he replied, a smile on his face as he stepped back from the bed.

"You must really like Alice to go through all of this," she added sleepily. She could have sworn she saw the smile disappear from his face at her comment but then her eyes were closing and she gave in to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: Sisterhood  
**By**: Liz  
**Chapter**: 4  
**Rating**: M  
**Disclaimers**: The characters are not mine, I'm just having fun playing with them. General story idea based on Beverly Sommers' _The Meaning of Sisterhood_.  
**Author's Notes**: Chapter 4. Finally. Sorry about the wait. I do actually have a few good reasons (excuses), though, I swear. My sister got married last month and I was the maid of honor so there was a lot to do there. And I've also made the big decision to pack up my life in DC and move to the other side of the world to Australia for two years for grad school in July. I'm super excited and terrified at the same time and trying to figure all of this out hasn't really left me a lot of time for everything else so I apologize for the wait. My goal now is to have this finished and up before I head off to school!  
And thank you so much all of you for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Several hours later, Bella woke abruptly. Her bedside light was on and it was starting to get dark outside but Bella scarcely took notice of this as she dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the bathroom as quickly as possible, barely making it to the toilet before the small amount of food she had eaten that day came back up.

When she was through, she continued to lean over the bowl, sweat pouring down her face as she waited to see if her stomach was finished rebelling for the moment. She suddenly felt a small hand patting her back soothingly and she lifted her head to see Alice standing over her. Over Alice's shoulder, she could see Rose standing in the doorway.

"Rose, go home," Bella told her friend, wiping her mouth with the damp washcloth Alice handed her. "Alice, you should go with her. I don't want you guys getting sick."

Rose reluctantly agreed and left, telling them to call her if they needed anything, but Alice refused to leave Bella's side. "Alice-" Bella began but her cousin quickly cut her off.

"Not happening," she told her firmly. "You're sick and you need someone to look after you. Besides, I talked to Charlie and he's going to be late coming home tonight so it looks like you're stuck with me. Don't worry, I have a great immune system," she added before Bella could protest. "Plus, someone has to feed the little trick or treaters and you're certainly in no shape to do it."

Bella groaned to herself as she rested her head against the cool porcelain of the toilet seat. First Edward, now Alice. She was sick, not helpless; why did it seem like people were suddenly lining up to help her?

A voice in her head told her to stop being an ungrateful brat and let Alice help her so she bit back any further protests and let her cousin help her back to her bedroom. Alice tucked her back into bed and brought her an empty garbage can in case she needed to be sick again and Bella quickly slipped off to sleep under the watchful eye of her cousin.

* * *

Though Bella had hoped that she would feel better once she had gotten some more sleep, she still felt like she'd been run over when she woke up the next morning. Alice came bouncing into Bella's room almost as soon as she woke up, trying to make sure Bella was comfortable and entertained and to see if she needed anything. Quite frankly, Bella would have been just as happy to be alone reading her book or sleeping some more but she put up with all of Alice's hovering and worrying without complaint. Late that afternoon, however, when her cousin started talking about skipping the party, Bella finally had to say something.

"Alice Brandon, don't you _dare_ stay home because of me. You have been planning this party for weeks, you are not missing it."

"But Bella, I feel awful leaving you here like this."

Bella managed a small smile. "I actually feel a little better than I did last night," she told her cousin truthfully. "I haven't even thrown up since this morning. I think all I really need is some more sleep. Besides, Charlie's home if I need anything. Please go to the party, Alice. I'll be fine. Really."

Knowing full well that it was really Bella that took care of Charlie rather than the other way around, Alice was not entirely convinced. However, she also knew what a stubborn independent streak her cousin had and figured its reappearance meant Bella really _was_ feeling a bit better so she let it go without further argument.

"Well, Charlie's watching some weird fish thing on TV so I hope you can actually pull him away from that if you need him," Alice said with a grin. "I didn't even know there were shows about fishing."

Bella smiled. "Yeah, he either tapes them when they're on really early in the morning so he can watch them later or he borrows them from his friend, Billy. It'll be fine, Alice. Besides, shouldn't you be getting ready right about now?"

With a quick glance at the clock on Bella's bedside table, Alice agreed, promising Bella she would return to show her her costume before she dashed out of the room. However, when Alice stuck her head in the room an hour and a half later, she found Bella fast asleep, the book she had been reading now on the floor. Smiling to herself, Alice quietly eased the door shut before practically tiptoeing down the stairs and saying goodbye to Charlie before she slipped out of the house.

* * *

Bella slept on and off for the rest of Saturday afternoon and early evening, finally managing to keep some Gatorade and saltines down before finally falling asleep for good around 8pm. When she woke up on Sunday morning, she felt much closer to human than she had since Thursday and she stretched slowly in her bed, pleased that the aching seemed to have disappeared from her limbs as well. At this rate, she would probably be able to return to school the following day.

She let her body relax and snuggled back down into her comforter, her thoughts turning to the fevered dreams she had had over the previous 48 hours. Remnants of the dreams lingered at the edge of her consciousness and she struggled to recall the details of any of them. Alice had been there, of course, always energetically bouncing around. There was a strong possibility, Bella realized with a snort at her subconscious, that her cousin had actually appeared as some kind of fashionable Energizer bunny at one point. And she seemed to recall a talking bear that had reminded her eerily of Emmett as well. _What the hell was in that cold medicine? _she wondered.

Aside from her deranged Snow White on acid memories, she was fairly certain Edward had shown up in her dreams a few times, too, and she seemed to remember a strange feeling of safety at his appearance. The whole idea made no sense whatsoever to her but she rationalized to herself it was just because he had taken care of her on Friday afternoon.

There was a soft knock at her door then and Bella looked up to see Alice stick her head in the room. "Bella? Are you awake?"

Bella stretched again and slowly sat up, smiling at her cousin as she shook off any remaining thoughts of her dreams. "Hey, Alice."

"How are you feeling?" Alice asked. "I brought you some breakfast if you feel up to it."

"Better," Bella replied. "Depending on what it is, I think I'd definitely like to try some solid food."

Alice fairly danced into the room with a plate of plain toast and she handed her cousin the food before sitting down at the foot of the bed, her legs tucked beneath her.

"I wish you'd been there last night. Everyone was asking after you," Alice told her. "Edward, Emmett, Angela, Ben, and Jessica."

Bella smiled as she took a tiny bite of her toast. "And how did it go? Did everyone have fun?"

She could almost see Alice warring with herself and she laughed softly. "Alice, it's okay, you can tell me how amazing it was without hurting my feelings. Believe me, the way I felt yesterday, I was not going to be any fun at a party."

Alice smiled and bounced slightly on the bed. "Okay, it was a lot of fun," she admitted. "I think everyone had a really good time." The two girls spent the rest of the morning discussing the party and by that afternoon, Bella even felt well enough to take a shower for the first time in two days, further strengthening her conviction that she would be back at school tomorrow. She was disappointed that she had missed the Halloween party, but she knew Edward was right. There would be other parties. With Alice around, she knew she could count on it.

* * *

Bella's prediction turned out to be correct and she returned to school the next morning with Alice. Unfortunately, the girls were running late due to both of them oversleeping, and Bella had to wait until lunch to see her other friends again.

She was just unwrapping her sandwich while she and Rose caught up on the weekend when a heavy thump beside her interrupted their conversation. "Bellsy! We missed you Saturday night. It's good to see you back among the living," Emmett said with a grin as he threw an arm around her shoulder and crushed her against his side for a moment as he took his seat. "Man, the way Alice and Edward were carrying on, you'd have thought you were on your death bed or something."

Bella blushed as she straightened up in her seat. "It was just a bug," she mumbled. "I'm fine." She returned her attention to the still wrapped sandwich she had dropped on the table, relieved when Emmett's focus shifted to Alice and Rose and the three began enthusiastically reminiscing about Saturday night.

Bella hadn't seen Edward during her morning classes, either, and had hoped she would see him at lunch so that she could thank him for his help on Friday. However, fifteen minutes into the lunch period, he still had not appeared and she finally asked the others where he was.

"Making up some quiz for Cooper's class," Emmett responded through a mouthful of pizza.

Bella turned to Alice in surprise. "I thought he had to leave on Friday so he could go back to school and take that quiz."

Alice shrugged. "He didn't want to leave you alone as sick as you were, so he waited until Rose and I got there."

_He just did it to look good in front of Alice_, the voice in her head reminded her as she returned her attention to her lunch. But she couldn't help smiling at the thought of Edward skipping class just so she wouldn't have to be alone.

It wasn't until the end of the school day that Bella finally had a chance to talk to Edward. On her way to her locker after her last period History class she saw him pulling books from his locker and she stopped at the locker next to his. "Hey," she said, causing him to turn to face her.

"Hey," he greeted her, his lips curving up in his familiar crooked grin. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you," Bella said quietly. "And thank you for everything you did on Friday. I hope Mrs. Cooper wasn't too upset with you for missing the quiz."

"Nah, she was cool about it," Edward replied, still grinning. "Persuasive, remember?"

Bella smiled back, remembering the conversation in her bedroom. "Well, thank you," she said again. "And I hope you don't catch whatever I had."

"Nope, I feel fine," Edward replied with a smile. "I have a very strong immune system."

Emmett, however, apparently did not have this in common with his brother as Bella found out when she joined the lunch table on Tuesday.

"Where's Emmett?" she asked, immediately noticing the absence of the dark haired Cullen brother's larger than life personality.

"At home," Rose replied. "He sent me a text this morning that he didn't feel well."

"Oh no," Bella said. "That's my fault, isn't it? Please tell him I am so sorry."

"Bella, don't worry about it," Edward told her. "I'm sure he'll be fine by tomorrow. Besides, with the way he eats, I'm surprised he's not sick to his stomach 24/7."

Bella smiled as she returned to her sandwich but she still felt guilty. She felt even worse the next day when Emmett still wasn't in school.

"Don't worry," Edward said to her once again when she expressed her guilt at Emmett's absence during the lunch period. "Honestly, I think he just didn't want to take the quiz we had in Trig today."

Rose's phone buzzed and she picked it up and read the message on the screen, smiling to herself. "Speak of the devil. Looks like Em's going a little stir crazy," she told the others. "He wants to know if we'll come visit."

Alice, Bella, and Rose followed Edward home in Alice's car after school. In her sporty little car, she easily kept up with Edward's quick pace and Bella was willing to bet that the four arrived at the Cullens' home far quicker than a normal person would have. Alice parked her car behind Edward's at the top of the long driveway and the three girls exited the car to follow him up the steps of the gorgeous three story Victorian.

"Emmett?" Edward called as they walked through the entranceway and down a hallway. "I brought company."

"Oh thank God!" They entered what Bella could only assume was the living room to find Emmett sprawled out across a large comfortable looking couch. Another couch and several chairs were arranged around the room. A stone fireplace took up most of one wall while a large flat screen TV that Emmett had muted upon their entrance hung on the wall opposite the couch he currently occupied.

"Hey, Alice. Typhoid Mary," Emmett greeted.

Bella blushed. "Emmett, I am so sorry," she began.

Emmett's boisterous laugh cut her off. "I'm just kidding, Bella," he assured her.

"Besides," Rose put in as she made her way over to the couch where Emmett lay, "Typhoid Mary was a healthy carrier. Don't you pay attention in History? Trust me, Bella suffered just as much as you did, you big baby."

"And probably complained a hell of a lot less," Edward added as he took a seat on the floor.

Emmett ignored his brother, focusing instead on the blonde who had just reached his side. "Hey baby," he said to Rose, smiling brilliantly up at her.

She kissed his forehead. "Hey yourself. Now move your feet and let me sit down."

"Two days off, huh?" Alice said with a grin as she plopped down in a chair. "Not bad, Emmett. See, Bella, this is when you're supposed to get sick. Not on the weekend."

Bella stuck her tongue out at her cousin as Emmett pouted. "It's so boring," he whined. "I've been stuck here all day with nothing to do and there wasn't even anything good on TV. I'm even tired of the X-Box. I want to do something with people."

"Oh, I know! Let's play "Never Have I Ever," Alice said.

"What's that?" Bella asked warily.

"It's like truth or dare but better," Alice responded with a grin.

"Isn't that a drinking game?" Rose asked.

Alice shrugged. "We can just take drinks of soda or something."

"Oooh!" Emmett jumped to his feet and ran into the kitchen. Seconds later, he returned with three large bottles in his hands. "Sparkling cider!" he said in response to the questioning looks directed at him. "Mom and Dad had a couple of these in the fridge from a dinner party a couple weeks ago."

Alice clapped her hands excitedly. "Perfect! Now we just need glasses and we're all set."

"I don't know," Edward said, casting a glance at a nervous looking Bella.

"Come on, Eddie. Don't be such a dickfor," Emmett said cheerfully.

"What?" Bella asked.

"Bella, don't-" Edward tried to stop her but it was too late.

"What, what, Bella?" Emmett asked with an evil grin.

"What's a 'dickfor'?" she asked.

The moment the words left her mouth, Bella's cheeks went pink as Emmett laughed uproariously and Rose snickered. Alice and Edward held back their laughter, not wanting to add to Bella's embarrassment. To everyone in the room's surprise, however, she suddenly started giggling, too.

"I can't believe I fell for that," she snorted, setting everyone off into a fresh round of laughter.

When the laughter died down, Alice returned to the topic at hand. "Okay, so do you guys want to play?" she asked.

"I'm in," Emmett said with a grin.

"Me, too," Rose said.

"How do you play?" Bella asked when everyone's gaze turned to her, stalling as she tried to think of a way to get out of what was sure to be an embarrassing experience. Truth or dare only better? Yeah, that so did not sound like a good time to her.

"Okay, so we start with one person and that person says 'never have I ever' and then you choose your own way to finish the sentence. Like, I could say never have I ever played football or something. And if you have, you take a drink. If you haven't, you don't," Alice explained. "Then we go around the circle and everyone gets to make up their own thing to ask."

"What's the point?" Bella asked. "I mean, can you win this game or is it just to embarrass each other?"

"Bella, it's fun," Alice protested. "That's the point."

Alice gave her cousin a pleading look complete with puppy dog eyes and Bella sighed. "I know I'm going to regret this but fine, I'm in, too."

Alice looked to Edward and he shrugged. "Sure."

Alice squealed gleefully. "All right! Emmett, pour the drinks."

Emmett retrieved glasses from the kitchen and the five teenagers sprawled out on the floor with their drinks. "Okay, who wants to go first?" Alice asked when everyone had a glass.

"This was your idea, Alice," Rose said. "You're up."

Alice smiled wickedly. "Okay." She paused for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Never have I ever fantasized or dreamt about someone I know."

Well, she didn't really _know_ Jordan and it wasn't like she could be held responsible for Edward's appearance in her fevered dreams. With these thoughts running through her brain, Bella thought for a split second about lying but she knew her blushing face would give her away so she picked up her glass and took a quick sip as everyone around her did the same.

"I thought the point was to say things you'd never done," Bella said to her cousin, still fighting a losing battle against the crimson staining her cheeks.

Alice giggled. "I know, I just couldn't think of anything to say."

"Well that's a first," Rose teased.

Alice wrinkled her nose at her friend. "Your turn, Rose."

The blonde thought a moment before leaning back against the couch behind her. "Never have I ever had sex."

As Alice picked up her glass and took a swallow, Bella stared at her glass, feeling the color rise in her cheeks once more as she cast surreptitious looks at the others to see if anyone else would pick up their drink. No one else moved.

"Just me then," Alice said cheerfully as she set her glass down. "Good thing this isn't really a drinking game! Bella, you're up."

Bella bit her lip as she tried to focus her thoughts. "Um, never have I ever…" she trailed off a moment, still trying to figure out what to say. _Don't ask anything about sex!_ Her brain screamed at her and she swore her face must have darkened even more. "Never have I ever, um, snuck out of the house at night," she finally said, recalling Alice's tales of Jasper sneaking into her room at night. _Well, that one wasn't __**totally **__about sex, _her brain congratulated her.

Emmett grinned and picked up his glass, taking a big swig as Alice and Rose did the same. Neither Edward nor Bella picked up their glass and Emmett laughed at them. "Aren't you two just the world's most exciting couple?" he teased.

Edward tensed and he glared at his brother. "Never have I ever walked in on my parents having sex."

Emmett's face fell. "Oh, gross! Why did you have to remind me?" he whined as he picked up his glass again. "You know I'm a visual thinker."

Edward just sat back with a smug smile, daring to glance over at Bella. She was looking at him and he winked, causing her to smile back at him even as her cheeks darkened yet again.

The game continued until they had finished all three bottles of cider, with Emmett and Alice seemingly competing to see who could ask the most random or embarrassing questions. In fact, Bella was pretty certain that for Emmett, the purpose of the game became seeing how much he could make her blush and by the time the game had finally ended, she wasn't sure her face would ever return to its normal color. _Never will I ever play this stupid game again._

After all of the cider she had had to drink during the game, Bella desperately needed to pee and after asking Edward where the downstairs bathroom was, she excused herself from the others and headed in the direction Edward had pointed her.

As Bella made her way back from the bathroom, she was unable to resist pausing to look at some of the other rooms in the large house. The first place she found herself was the front room where they had all first entered the house. She hadn't wanted to stare at the furnishings and decoration in front of Edward, but now that she was alone, she let herself stop and fully take in her surroundings. The room was spacious and full of light thanks to the floor to ceiling windows that lined the back wall. There was a small loveseat and several chairs in the room as well as another stone fireplace but what really caught her attention was the grand piano in the corner by the windows. Its rich wood finish shone in the fading rays of the setting sun, its ivory keys gleaming, and Bella decided to get a closer look.

She slowly walked over to the magnificent instrument and as she reached it, she ran her fingers lightly over the keys, being careful not to press hard enough to elicit any sound. She continued to admire the piano for a few moments before she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly, nearly jumping out of her skin when she saw Edward standing in the archway to the living room.

"I'm sorry," she said as he walked toward her. "I didn't mean to snoop," she added, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Don't worry about it," Edward said as he reached her side. "Do you play?"

"No," Bella said, looking down at the keys as she ran her fingers over them again. "I wish I had any musical talent. Do you?"

"Yeah," he replied, sounding almost shy. Bella looked at him in surprise and he chuckled softly. "My parents had us take lessons when we were younger. Emmett couldn't really sit still long enough to learn anything so my parents let him drop it. But I-" He hesitated for a moment. "Well, it's a good outlet."

"Can I hear you play?" Bella asked, still stunned by Edward's revelation.

"Still don't believe me, huh?" Edward teased.

Bella blushed. "No! I mean, I do, I just, I mean, I'd really like to hear you play," she said quietly. "If that's okay."

Edward smiled and took a seat at the piano bench. Bella wasn't quite sure where she should be so she ended up staying where she was, standing next to the piano bench, as Edward began to play. The tune was vaguely familiar but she quickly gave up trying to place it, letting herself get lost in the music as Edward continued.

Bella couldn't have said how long she stood there listening to Edward play; she was conscious of nothing but the rich notes resounding from the piano and the sight of Edward's long fingers gliding smoothly across the keys. When the song drew to a close they were both quiet a moment as the last notes lingered in the room. The silence was quickly broken, however, by the sound of clapping and Bella whirled around, startled, to find Emmett, Alice, and Rose standing in the entryway.

"Wow, Edward," Alice said. "I didn't know you could play like that."

"Um, yeah," Edward said, flustered. "Sorry. I was just, uh-"

"Showing off for the ladies?" Emmett teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Maybe I should have stuck with piano after all."

"Anyway," Alice said, seeing the color rise in both Bella and Edward's cheeks, "we're going to get some ice cream. Wanna go?"

Bella shook her head. "I need to get home and start dinner. Why are you going to get ice cream now? It's 5:30."

Alice shrugged. "Emmett suggested it and now I can't stop thinking about it so we're going to get some. Don't worry, you know I'll save room for dinner."

"Can you drop me off at home on the way?"

Emmett looked pained. "But it's in the opposite direction," he whined.

"I can bring you home, Bella," Edward volunteered.

"You don't have to do that," Bella said. "I'm sure you have work you need to get to."

Edward smiled. "I have some reading for History that I'd just as soon put off as long as possible. Trust me, you'd be doing me a favor."

"Great," Alice said. "We'll see you guys later, then." Rose and Emmett waved as they followed after Alice and just like that, Bella and Edward were alone once more.

They returned to the living room to grab bags and jackets and then Bella followed Edward out to his car. He unlocked it as they approached before stepping forward and opening the passenger side door for Bella. She smiled shyly at him as she slid into the seat and he grinned back before closing the door and heading around to the driver's side.

After making sure that Bella's seatbelt was fastened and she was comfortable with the level of the heater, Edward turned the car around and began to drive back up the private road leading away from the Cullens' house. They didn't speak as they headed back to the main road, the only sound the classical music coming softly from the speakers, but Bella found herself completely at ease.

"That piece you played was really familiar," Bella said after a few moments of silence. "What was it?"

Edward smiled. "Moonlight Sonata. Beethoven." Bella nodded and they settled back into a comfortable silence.

When Edward pulled up in front of Bella's house, she was slightly surprised that he turned off the car's ignition but then she shrugged internally, gathering her bag from its place at her feet and reaching down to unhook her seatbelt.

"We should do something this weekend," Edward said suddenly.

Bella smiled. "I'm sure Alice has something planned."

Edward looked like he wanted to say something but after a moment of silence he gave Bella his familiar crooked grin instead. "You're right. I'm sure she'll let us know soon enough what we're doing."

Bella opened her door and then turned back to Edward. "Thank you for the ride, Edward."

"You're welcome, Bella. I'll see you tomorrow."

Bella smiled and exited the car, quickly making her way up the walk and into her house. She gave Edward a quick wave over her shoulder as she walked through the door but it wasn't until she had shut and locked the door behind her that she heard his car start up and drive away.

Once again, she couldn't help smiling to herself at his actions. Strange as it was, good manners and chivalry were not dead where Edward Cullen was concerned. In fact, it seemed the boy she had dismissed as a stupid, obnoxious jock was actually anything but. Intelligent, funny, kind enough to take care of her when she had been sick. Where was the immature jerk who had tormented her up through the previous school year?

And what else didn't she know about him?

* * *

The Saturday following their gathering at the Cullens' house, Bella and Alice decided to spend the day in Port Angeles. Alice complained that she was going through shopping withdrawal and Bella was all too eager to accompany her after Alice promised her an undisturbed hour at the Port Book and News bookstore. Rose and Emmett had had plans to work on her car that morning so they, along with Edward, were going to drive in later in the afternoon so they could all go see a movie and get dinner.

Bella had thought that with Port Angeles's limited selection of stores, Alice wouldn't take nearly as much time as she had when they were at the mall in Bremerton. However, the small selection didn't seem to bother Alice any and they spent several hours in a handful of local boutiques and a music store before grabbing a late lunch and finally heading to the bookstore.

They had saved Port Book and News for the end of the day as it was just a few doors down from the Itty Bitty Buzz coffeeshop where they had planned to meet up with the others and right down the street from the movie theater. They still had about a half an hour before the others were due to show up when they reached the coffeeshop so Alice headed to the counter for some drinks while Bella gratefully sank down onto one of the comfortable couches against the wall. _Shopping with Alice should qualify as my gym requirement for the year_, she thought, resting her head against the back of the couch and closing her eyes.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and straightened back up in her seat, looking over to see Alice talking and laughing with the elderly man behind the counter as she paid for their drinks. _She can talk to anyone_, Bella thought with a fond smile. She turned her attention back to watch the door for their friends and froze, her smile disappearing instantly.

There, standing before her and looking just as handsome and darkly mysterious as he had in her fantasies, stood Jordan Rivers. His blue eyes stared at her unblinkingly for a moment before he spoke.

"You're Bella Swan, right?" Jordan asked. Bella nodded. "I'm Jordan Rivers." Bella nodded again, afraid that if she spoke, her voice would give away how nervous she was.

"Would you like a ride home?" Jordan asked.

Bella blinked, fighting the urge to pinch herself.

She turned to Alice as her cousin took her seat next to her on the couch. "Um, Alice, I'm just-"

"Go," Alice told her with a smile. "I'll see you at home."

"Thanks, Al." Bella stood and pulled on her coat, grabbing her bag from her seat before following Jordan outside.

She felt a little bad about skipping out on the others but Alice hadn't seemed to mind. Besides, this way it would be the four of them and they would finally be able to have a proper double date without Bella-the-fifth-wheel trailing along. It was the least she could do for Edward after he had taken care of her when she'd been sick. Now they were even.

She and Jordan walked to his car in silence and when they reached it, he unlocked the car with his key fob and walked around to the driver's side and climbed in. After the way Edward always made sure to open her door for her, Bella was a little thrown for a minute but she shrugged and opened the passenger side door, climbing in and buckling her seat belt.

Bella waited for Jordan to speak, to tell her why he had offered her a ride home or maybe to ask her if she wanted to get coffee on the way home or something. Instead, he didn't say a word as he started the car and pulled away from the curb and as the silence stretched on, she realized that he seemed perfectly content to say nothing.

As they drove down the highway, Bella had to force herself not to fidget nervously. This was nothing like when Edward had driven her home from his house. They hadn't spoken much during that ride, either, but she had felt completely at ease in the quiet then. This silence was anything but comfortable and Bella wished Jordan would say something or turn on the radio, anything to break it. For a moment, she even found herself wishing Edward was the one giving her a ride home.

She gave herself a little shake. What was she doing? She was finally alone with the guy she had been fantasizing about for _months_ and she was comparing him to Edward Cullen? _Focus, Bella_, she told herself sternly.

However, her mind seemed to have other ideas as it traveled to thoughts of her friends and what they were probably doing at that moment. Emmett would be teasing Alice about something – a purchase she'd made that day or the movie she wanted to see, anything was fair game when it came to those two. Alice, of course, would be giving back just as good as she got while Rose alternatively egged them on and rolled her eyes at them. And Edward would be watching them, that familiar crooked smile gracing his features as he and Bella exchanged amused looks at their friends' antics.

_Except not because you're here and not with them_, she reminded herself. _You're here and this is where you want to be_. But the words sounded hollow even to her and she knew very well she was doing a lousy job of convincing herself. In fact, as both the ride and the silence continued, Bella began to wish she'd never run into Jordan. This certainly wasn't how she had imagined things with him. In fact, it was all just very strange and uncomfortable and she stared out the passenger window, silently urging the car to speed up and get her home already.

They had started home on the usual route between Port Angeles and Forks, taking 101 the whole way. Somewhere along the way, though, Bella realized that Jordan had drifted off of the main road. She thought he might have turned off onto one of the forest service roads in Olympic National Park but it all looked the same to her and she couldn't say with any certainty just where they were. Hell, it felt like they had been driving so long that if not for the absence of border checkpoints, she almost would have believed they were in Canada by now.

"Forks is such a nothing place." After the long silence, Jordan's voice seemed exceptionally loud and Bella jumped at the sound. "And the high school is pathetic. You know not one of the students or teachers there has had a single original thought of their own."

_Okay, so maybe awkward silence was better after all_, she thought to herself as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Nothing that he said seemed to require an answer so Bella did not respond.

Jordan was silent again for a while longer until he abruptly pulled the car off to the side of the road and cut the engine. "You and me, we're different, Bella. Better than this little town and its little people."

_You and I_, Bella's mind automatically corrected him, but she didn't know how to respond to the odd statement. She looked over at him but he was staring straight ahead through the windshield. Then he suddenly opened his door and got out and stood leaning against the car, staring off into the distance. Though she was still more than a little weirded out, Bella decided to get out of the car, too, if only to stretch her legs. She walked over to Jordan's side of the car and he finally turned to look at her as she reached his side.

"You shouldn't waste your time with the other students at our school, Bella. Just because Alice is your cousin doesn't mean you have to feel obligated to hang out with her. You're above that and that crowd of idiots she hangs out with."

Bella bristled to hear Jordan speak that way about Alice and her friends and she started to tell Jordan he didn't know what he was talking about. Before she could get a word out, however, Jordan grabbed her upper arms and in her surprise, Bella stumbled back a step, her back coming into contact with the car. And then, before she even had a chance to catch her breath, Jordan was kissing her.

This was not the way she had imagined her first kiss with Jordan at all. She had imagined a romantic setting where he would slowly cover her waiting lips with his warm, inviting ones and she'd be lost in an incredible sensory overload. Jordan's lips, however, were cold and unyielding against hers, pressing with almost bruising force, and Bella kept her eyes open, not returning his kiss and trying not to focus on the way Jordan's fingers bit into her skin or how the cold metal of the car was making her butt go numb through her jeans.

She was just thinking of pushing him away when the kiss abruptly stopped. Jordan released her arms and stepped around her to his open car door, climbing back in without a word or even a glance in Bella's direction. The car started and Bella hurried around to the passenger side, suddenly afraid that Jordan might just leave her stranded in the middle of nowhere.

He pulled back onto the road, not even waiting for Bella to put her seatbelt on, and continued driving through the forest like nothing had just happened. He finally turned the radio on but it was to a talk station and Bella found that the buzz of voices did little to put her at ease. Aside from the voices on the radio in the background, their drive back was as silent as the first leg of their journey and neither spoke until they reached Forks' town limits and Bella gave Jordan directions to her house.

When they reached her house at long last, Bella quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to Jordan. "Thank you for the ride," she said, wondering if he would respond. But he only nodded his head in acknowledgement and Bella quickly climbed out of the car. Jordan drove away while Bella was still making her way up the walk and she couldn't help but once again think of Edward and how he had waited until she was safely inside before he had even turned the car back on.

She shook her head as she unlocked the front door, quietly shutting it behind her. Right now, she didn't want to think about boys or anything else she didn't understand. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and go to sleep. Maybe the thoughts jumping around in her brain wouldn't make her head hurt so much in the morning.

As she turned from the door, she saw Alice's head pop up over the back of the couch. Her cousin looked at her expectantly but Bella was in no mood for discussing her strange evening. "Night, Alice," she said tiredly as she turned and headed upstairs to her room.

Knowing how much her cousin valued her privacy and probably wanted to be alone right now, Alice managed to wait almost five minutes before she went bounding into Bella's room without knocking.

Bella was already in her pajamas and under her blankets when Alice entered the room. "Well?" Alice said excitedly as she perched on the edge of Bella's desk. "Spill!"

Bella looked at Alice tiredly. "Alice, it's late, I'm tired. Can we talk about this some other time?" _Preferably never_? she added silently. "Why are you home, anyway? I thought you guys were going to a movie."

"We decided not to go," Alice said, waving her hand impatiently. "Bella, come on! You've been gone for **ages**! At least tell me something! Did anything happen? Are you guys going out now?"

Without emotion Bella said, "He kissed me."

Alice beamed excitedly. "A handsome stranger shows up out of the night and you two drive off together and share your first kiss." She sighed. "Bella, that's so, wow! I didn't think things like that really happened. Looks like you got your mystery man after all, huh?"

Bella shrugged. "I guess," she mumbled before rolling onto her side and pulling the covers more tightly around her. Confused by her cousin's less than thrilled attitude but seeing that she wasn't going to get anywhere further with her, Alice reluctantly bid her goodnight and headed off to her own room.

* * *

The next morning, Bella was awakened by a tiny, shrieking earthquake shaking her bed.

"Bella! Bella Bella Bella!"

Bella pulled her covers up over her head. "Go away, Alice. I'm tired."

"But Bella, it snowed!" Alice shrieked.

Bella groaned, pulling the covers more tightly around her. "That just means it's even colder than usual outside," she grumbled. "Not to mention a waste of a snow day since it's the weekend."

"But Bella," Alice whined. "I've never seen snow before! Not ever," she reminded her cousin. "You have to show me how to make a snowman and snow angels and have a snow ball fight and-"

"You're not going to let me go back to sleep, are you?" Bella mumbled, but she was smiling as she gave up her death grip on the blankets.

Alice shook her head, pulling back Bella's covers as she continued bouncing on her bed. "Come on!" she demanded, tugging on her cousin's arm. "Let's go!"

Knowing it was useless to argue with Alice when she was in full on hyper mode, Bella let Alice pull her from her bed and over to her closet. "Okay, get dressed and meet me downstairs in five minutes!" Alice instructed her cousin before dancing excitedly out the door. "And no going back to bed!" she called back from her own room.

Bella joined Alice in the kitchen ten minutes later, making herself some toast for breakfast while Alice called Rose. Their friend told Alice there was no way she would be taking her baby out in this weather but that she could probably borrow her mom's car and would be over in 10 minutes. True to her word, the girls had just stepped outside into the snow when Rose pulled into their driveway.

As Rose joined them on the lawn, Bella dropped down onto her back in the snow and began moving her arms and legs. "Oooh, snow angels!" Alice squealed excitedly. "I want to try!" She and Rose both dropped down next to Bella and in moments, there were three snow angels spread across the Swans' front lawn.

As Rose and Bella stood from their snow angels, Alice was already running across the lawn, scooping up snow. "Snow ball fight!" she sang, launching a lump of snow back at her friends. Rose and Bella quickly armed themselves as well and the three girls began throwing snow balls at each other. When the kids across the street decided to join in, Alice suggested they build a snow fort.

With the help of some of the children on their side of the street, they started building a protective wall out of the snow and soon it was the three girls and the kids on their side of the street versus the kids on the other side. Bella went inside at one point to go to the bathroom and when she came back out, she saw Edward and Emmett standing in the middle of the street, snowballs raining down on them from both sides. She quickly rejoined Alice and Rose behind their wall and made a small stack of snowballs before she, too, began throwing snowballs at the Cullen brothers.

Her first snowball hit Edward right in the face. "That's for the snake," she muttered as Alice laughed hysterically next to her while Rose continued to pelt Emmett with snowballs. Her second and third snowballs missed but the fourth found its mark once again and Edward quickly brushed the snow out of his eyes. Then, with the incredible speed that made him such an amazing centerfielder, he ran toward the girls, leaping over the wall of their small fort and tackling Bella to the ground.

Bella landed flat on her back but she didn't think that was what had knocked the wind out of her. Snow clung to Edward's lashes, making them appear even longer than usual, and his green eyes burned with something she couldn't identify as their gazes locked. She was acutely aware of his body as it lay pressed against hers and for a moment she couldn't move, enjoying the warmth of his body as it surrounded her. The laughter of the children across the street pulled her from her stupor and she grabbed a handful of snow, shoving it in Edward's face as she rolled out from underneath him.

He caught her by her ankle, bringing her down flat on her stomach, and shoved snow down the back of her jacket. Alice waited for Bella to scream or get angry but instead she started laughing as she rolled over and sat up. When Edward gave her a hand to help her up, she pulled him down into the snow next to her and then they were both laughing as they rolled around in the snow.

Their friends joined in the laughter until Alice noticed something that made her stop immediately. The weather had started to warm up and the snow was quickly beginning to melt away around them. She dashed around, trying to collect snow and begging the others to help her but her friends just laughed. "It's too early for it," Edward told her. "Don't worry, I promise you we'll get a lot more before the winter's over."

"I wanted to build a snowman," Alice pouted.

"Next time," Rose promised. "In the meantime, can we go inside? It's kind of freezing out here. I think we all need some hot chocolate or something." Emmett quickly chimed in his agreement and the five of them headed into the house.

Bella immediately went upstairs to change, pulling off her soaking wet jacket and sweater and hanging them over the shower rod before going into her own room to find some dry clothes.

As she stood in front of her dresser wearing only her underwear and a dry thermal henley, her mind drifted as it so often did lately to thoughts of Edward. She couldn't stop thinking about the look in his eyes when he had tackled her and she shivered remembering the intensity of his gaze. _What on earth was that all about_? she asked herself.

_It didn't mean a damn thing_, the logical part of her brain replied sharply. _He's interested in Alice, remember?_ She shook her head and returned her attention toward the task at hand, figuring she'd better hurry up and change before Alice decided to come in and pick out a special lounging around outfit for her to wear.

She'd just pulled on a pair of pajama pants and some warm socks when there was a knock and Alice opened her door. She was holding a small pile of clothing in her arms and she dropped it on Bella's bed. "It's a pair of sweats and a shirt of Jasper's for Edward," Alice explained. "He's kind of soaked from you two playing in the snow together." Alice grinned as Bella's cheeks flushed. "He's in the bathroom, can you give these to him when you're done? We're going to watch a movie when you guys get downstairs and I need to pick one before Emmet has us watching _Fast and the Furious_ part 9 or something. Thanks!" Without waiting for a reply, Alice closed Bella's door and headed back down to the living room.

Bella shook her head at her cousin as she picked up the bundle of clothing and walked out of her room to the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar and Bella knocked on it as she edged it open. "Edward, I..." Edward turned at the sound of her voice, a towel in his hands and his wet shirt lying in the sink. Bella's eyes were drawn immediately to Edward's bare chest and for a moment she could only stare, the power of speech completely deserting her.

Edward smiled, his cheeks going slightly pink. "Are those the dry clothes Alice promised me?" he finally asked, breaking the charged silence.

Bella pulled her gaze from Edward's chest and forced herself to look him in the eye. "Um, yeah, Alice gave me these to give you. Since, uh, your clothes are wet," she mumbled, a dark blush coloring her cheeks.

She held them out to him, dropping her gaze as Edward stepped forward and took the clothing from her. "Thanks."

"Um, you're welcome," Bella said, looking anywhere but at the half naked body in front of her. "I, uh, yeah, I'll just leave you to, um, change." And with that she fairly fled back to her room, shutting the door firmly behind her before dropping heavily onto her bed.

Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment and she found that the image of a shirtless Edward seemed seared into her brain. She'd had an almost irresistible urge to touch him, to run her fingers down his bare chest. _Or maybe your tongue_, her brain suggested. She could feel her entire body heating up at the thoughts running through her head and she dropped her burning face into her hands. Where were these thoughts even coming from? Since when did she have overly hormonal teenage thoughts about Edward Cullen?

There was a quiet knock at her door and she sat bolt upright, panic gripping her at the thought of facing Edward again, certain that he would know exactly what she was thinking just by looking at her. She looked around frantically before her gaze fell on the history textbook next to her bed and she snatched it up, opening it to a random page and settling back against her headboard.

"Come in," she replied, praying her voice didn't betray her chaotic feelings. As the door was opening, she noticed that her book was upside down and she quickly flipped it over, taking a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart and hoping that the flush in her burning cheeks wasn't as noticeable as it felt.

Edward stuck his head into the room. "Hey. I'm, uh, I'm gonna head downstairs," he said.

"Okay." Bella barely looked up from her book.

"Um, are you coming down to watch the movie?"

"No, thanks," Bella replied, still unable to look Edward straight in the eye. "I have some work I really need to get done for tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Edward said. For a moment, Bella could have sworn she heard disappointment in his voice but she knew she was being ridiculous. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yep, see you tomorrow," Bella said, glancing quickly at Edward. She tried to give him a smile but she was sure it looked more like a grimace and she dropped her head back against the headboard in relief when he finally closed the door.

She knew Edward would tell Alice what she had said and she waited for Alice to come flying up the stairs and demand Bella join everyone downstairs. Fortunately, her cousin seemed to understand that she needed some time to herself and Bella spent the next several hours undisturbed in her room.

* * *

"Bella," a voice called softly. "Bella, time to wake up."

Bella rolled over and rubbed her eyes, blinking at the light from her bedside table. "Alice? What?"

Her cousin stood before her, smiling. "You fell asleep," she told her. "I guess playing in the snow really took it out of you. And I did wake you up kind of early, too."

Bella groaned and looked down at the floor to see her history book lying open next to her bed. "Dammit. I still haven't finished those questions," she grumbled.

"Well, you'll have to finish them later," Alice told her. "Charlie's home and dinner's ready. I made mac and cheese from scratch," she added proudly. "It was my mom's recipe."

Bella sat up and stretched, glancing over at her clock. "It's already 6:30?"

Alice grinned as she pulled Bella to her feet. "Must have been a boring assignment," she teased. "I won't tell everyone you chose it over watching a movie with them. They left a little while ago," she added in response to Bella's unspoken question.

Bella nodded and followed Alice downstairs for dinner. When they had all finished their second helpings, Bella and Charlie washed the dishes while Alice raced upstairs to tell Jasper about their adventures in the snow.

Bella had just handed a clean plate to Charlie when they heard a loud shriek come from the second floor. Charlie looked at Bella, eyebrows raised in concern, but Bella just smiled. "It's Alice," she reminded him. "She could have just won the lottery or heard her favorite song on the radio."

Charlie nodded in agreement and seconds later, they heard Alice thundering down the stairs.

"Ohmigod! So, Jasper has a few days off from school for Thanksgiving just like we do and his dad said he could use his miles and get a plane ticket and take that whole week off from school and he really wants to come up and visit me and I would love for you guys to meet him, I know you'll just love him and I really miss him and I really, **really** need to see him again and he doesn't even care, he would totally sleep on the couch or in a sleeping bag on the floor if you'd let him come stay and would that be okay, Uncle Charlie?"

Bella's head spun just trying to follow Alice's massive run on sentence and before she knew quite what had happened, Charlie had agreed to let Jasper come and stay and Alice dashed back up the stairs with a squeal of delight.

Bella looked at Charlie in surprise but he only shrugged. "It makes her happy. I always thought it was too bad she had to leave someone she loves behind." Bella hid her smile; it looked like her dad was much more of a romantic than she'd ever given him credit for.

They finished the dishes shortly thereafter and when Bella headed to her room, she could hear Alice's excited voice as she continued to talk to Jasper on the phone. Not wanting to eavesdrop, Bella shut the door behind her and sat down on her bed with her history book, attempting to finish the final question in her assignment for the following day.

Ten minutes later, Alice burst into Bella's room without knocking and jumped onto the bed. "He's coming!" she sang gleefully, bouncing Bella's textbook right off the bed in her excitement.

Bella smiled. "I heard. I can't wait to meet him."

As Alice continued bouncing excitedly on the bed, rattling off a list of all the things they would have to do while Jasper was there, Bella couldn't help wondering how Edward would feel when he heard the news. She was truly happy for her cousin but she couldn't help worrying that things were about to get very complicated.

* * *

Author's Note: My sister, her husband, and I all use the "dickfor" thing all the time. Sadly, the first time they said it in front of me, I fell right into the same trap that Bella did…


	5. Chapter 5

**Title**: Sisterhood  
**By**: Liz  
**Chapter**: 5  
**Rating**: M  
**Disclaimers**: The characters are not mine, I'm just having fun playing with them. General story idea based on Beverly Sommers' _The Meaning of Sisterhood_.  
**Author's Notes**: I'm sorry this has taken so long. Illness, deaths in the family, major cutbacks at work, and some serious changes/delays in moving plans have taken all of my time and energy for the last few months. I sincerely appreciate every single one of you who has read, reviewed, or signed up for chapter alerts. I really hope you will enjoy this chapter!  
For libbybelle for kindly nudging me back into this mindset with her review. And as always for my sis, Elise, for holding my hand from the other side of the world every time I worried something in the chapter wasn't working and reading over the finished product. Love you, sis!  
**Special Note**: This is where the "M" rating really comes in. You have been warned.

* * *

Bella walked toward the bathroom holding a pile of clothing and knocked lightly on the partially open door before pushing it open without waiting for an answer. Edward stood before her, clad only in wet jeans that clung to his body, his eyes blatantly raking over her form as she stood in the doorway.

She was wearing only her Henley and a pair of panties but instead of trying to cover herself up, she boldly walked into the room and stood right before Edward. Dropping the pile of clothes onto the counter, she stepped even closer, reaching out her right hand to gently trail her fingers down his bare chest.

Her fingers continued their exploration downward as a low moan rumbled from Edward's chest and she looked up and saw his face, that beautiful face, contorted in an expression of pleasure. He suddenly grabbed her hand, stilling it, and lifted her up, setting her down on the bathroom counter before attacking her lips with his own. He then slowly trailed his lips down her throat as Bella gasped for breath and she could both hear and feel him murmuring her name against her neck.

She had just reached her hands down to begin undoing his jeans when her alarm went off and she awoke sweating, her blankets tangled around her legs. The throbbing between her legs was so intense that even a particularly cold shower didn't help much.

All that Monday morning, she dreaded lunchtime. Edward had been appearing in her dreams almost every night for the past week since she had walked in on him in the bathroom. The dreams had been innocent enough at first – she had initially only dreamt about the encounter as it had actually occurred – but they had begun getting more intense and more _intimate_ over the past few days.

Her waking fantasies had gone awry as well. Now, when she pictured herself somewhere romantic and exotic, she would turn to her companion and instead of dark hair and blue eyes, she saw bronze hair, gorgeous green eyes, and a smile meant only for her.

_Maybe I need to switch to a lower hormone birth control_, she thought fleetingly as she slowly made her way to the cafeteria.

Her recent dreams had her a little on edge and she was relieved to see that Edward was not yet at the lunch table when she took her seat next to Alice. When he did finally join them a few minutes later, Bella focused her attention on her lunch, barely glancing up to greet him as he slid in across from her.

She tuned in to Alice's stream of chatter next to her, wincing when she realized Alice was once again talking about Jasper and his visit and all the things they would have to do together when he was there. Bella had watched Edward carefully when Alice had first announced Jasper's visit to see how he would take the news, figuring he was most likely not going to be happy about it. However, he'd only smiled like everyone else and said he was looking forward to meeting him. _You know he's a good actor,_ she reminded herself. _He even had Rose thinking he was interested in you at one point, remember?_ _You could stand to learn a thing or two from him_. Bella was a dreadful liar and she wasn't much better at concealing her emotions. Generally, whatever she was feeling or thinking about showed plainly on her face. As it was, she was almost certain that if she dared to make eye contact with Edward, he would know about his starring role in her most recent dreams in a heartbeat.

Alice was in the middle of planning a day trip to Seattle for the group during the weekend after Thanksgiving when Jordan Rivers passed their table. Though he came within inches of her, he never even spared Bella a glance. Rose and Alice exchanged a look but Bella only shrugged when they looked to her. She could practically see the wheels turning in her cousin's head but Alice didn't question her on it, instead returning almost immediately to her planning.

Bella let out a silent sigh of relief. The strange behavior of Jordan Rivers was not something she felt like getting into any time soon. However, listening to Alice continue her planning, she almost wished her cousin _had_ started grilling her, if only to spare Edward the pain of listening to Alice go on about Jasper.

She caught herself with a start. The hell? She definitely didn't want to become the center of attention, no matter what else Alice might be talking about instead. And just where on earth was this sudden urge to protect Edward's feelings coming from?

_It's all an act, remember? He's still the same jerk that made nasty comments and stuck a snake down the back of your shirt._ Unfortunately, this line of thought didn't help much as snakes down her shirt led to thoughts of snow down her shirt which brought images of half naked Edward to mind – both the real shirtless Edward and the one from her dreams. She wondered if his skin would feel as smooth under her fingers as it had in her dreams, if he would moan when she touched him, would whisper her name with the same intensity…

"Bella?" Bella came back to herself with a jolt, her eyes widening as she realized Edward was speaking to her.

"I, um, have to go, uh, talk to Mrs. Callanan," she blurted before gathering up her bag and her mostly uneaten lunch and practically fleeing the cafeteria.

* * *

Bella stood in front of her dresser and had just picked up a pair of pajama pants when there was a sharp knock at her door and Edward stepped into her room, shutting the door behind him. He was dressed only in a pair of boxers and took a moment to look her up and down before walking to her side.

"You're not going to need those," he told her, his voice low and husky as he took the pants from her hand and dropped them back into the open dresser drawer. "Trust me."

Bella shivered as Edward's hand came up to cup her cheek and he pulled her to him, meeting her lips with his own in a forceful kiss. Her lips parted willingly beneath his and she gripped his bare shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his body.

His hand slid beneath the hem of her shirt and Bella shivered again as his warm fingers trailed over the soft skin there, dancing teasingly along the waistband of her panties. After a few moments, he broke the kiss and pulled back to look at her. He took one of her hands from his shoulder and guided it down to the front of his boxers where a very prominent bulge twitched under her hand.

"You feel that?" he asked, watching her face as she cupped his erection. "That's what you do to me, Bella. You and no one else."

He released her hand but Bella didn't pull back, instead beginning to stroke him gently through his boxers. He groaned, leaning into her touch as she continued, his eyes closed in pleasure. Bella increased the pressure of her hand and in a flash of movement, Edward scooped her up in his arms and brought her over to her bed where he laid her down.

"Don't want the fun to end so soon," he said from where he knelt above her on the bed.

She rose to balance on her knees, their faces only inches apart. Then, keeping her eyes locked with his, she reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head and throwing it to the side in one quick movement.

Edward's eyes darkened as his hands came forward to cup her breasts through her bra, his thumbs tracing tiny circles on the exposed flesh above the cups. Bella dropped her head back with a moan and Edward's arms came around her waist to pull her tightly against his body.

"I'm sure you can be louder than that," he said, his lips traveling down her throat to the base of her neck where he nipped playfully at the skin there. Bella moaned again as Edward continued nuzzling her neck and she swore she could feel him smile against her skin. "That's better," he murmured.

With one arm still wrapped around her to support her weight, he leaned her back until she was lying flat on her back once more. Bella reached up to pull Edward down with her but he caught her hands in his and laid them back on the bed. "Patience, Bella," he teased with a smirk.

He released her hands and lowered his head to her breasts, his fingers brushing back and forth across her nipples through her bra while his tongue trailed across the tops of her breasts and then down between them. His finger left her breasts then, trailing slowly down Bella's stomach, causing the various muscles in her stomach to clench at the slightly ticklish sensation.

His finger continued its downward journey and he began to stroke her through her panties with one long finger, eliciting a loud gasp from her as her hips reflexively bucked forward. "Oh, God. Please. Please, Edward."

As Bella watched through heavy lidded eyes, Edward began trailing kisses down her stomach to the top of the panties. As he reached the waistband, he paused to look up at Bella, a wicked grin on his lips. "More?"

"Yes," Bella said breathlessly. "Yes, Edward, please!"

He hooked his fingers on either side of the waistband and began oh so slowly to drag her panties down her hips. Bella arched her back slightly, her head falling back onto her pillow as she moaned quietly. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her skin. So close…

A high pitched beeping suddenly invaded her dreams and she awoke abruptly with Edward's name on her lips, her skin tingling from his phantom touches. As the haze in her brain began to clear, she reached a hand over to her night stand, smacking her alarm clock so hard that it fell to the floor. Her breathing ragged, she pressed her legs together to try to relieve some of the pressure but it did absolutely nothing to ease the pulsating between her legs and she began the day with yet another icy shower.

She skipped the cafeteria entirely that day.

After last period, she made her way to Alice's locker to wait for her cousin and Rose. Alice had convinced the two girls to join her on a Port Angeles shopping trip, telling them she needed to pick up some "things" for Jasper's visit. Bella thought it was best not to ask for details.

When Rose and Alice joined Bella, the three walked out to Alice's car in the parking lot. Bella was relieved when neither one of them brought up her absence at lunch and she slid into the back seat as Alice started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, hoping the shopping trip would take her mind off her recent issues with members of the opposite sex.

"_I think there's something wrong with me  
I think I got a problem  
Because every time you do the things you do, I wanna bite you  
It could be the way you look at me  
Or maybe your aroma  
And the only reason I could give to do it is 'cause I wanna  
And you know it doesn't matter to me  
I know that you're inedible  
Your neck, your ears, your lips would be incredible!"_

Bella groaned to herself. Normally, the upbeat punk of the Dollyrots, who Alice was so fond of blasting in her car, could put her in a good mood. This particular song at this particular moment, however, was doing nothing to help the increasing turmoil in her brain.

"Alice, could you turn that down? Or off?" Her tone was sharper than she'd meant it to be and she saw Rose and Alice exchange a look as the blonde reached over and turned the music off.

"So, Bella, are you ever going to tell us what's bugging you?" Alice asked.

"Nothing," Bella said automatically. "It's just kind of loud back here."

"You know, Bella, you don't have to skip lunch just to avoid him," Rose said, ignoring Bella's answer.

"What?" Bella's jaw dropped for a moment before she could collect herself. "I'm not avoiding him," she protested weakly. She should have known they would have figured out something was going on with her. And now her friends were going to know about her embarrassing dreams. Her face flushed. Had Alice heard her call out Edward's name that morning? _Shit!_

Alice sighed. "Bella, you are a terrible liar," she advised her cousin. "You know you can tell us anything. We were both there when he walked right past our table, remember?"

_What?_ _Oh!_ Bella let out a small breath of relief. Jordan. Right. While she certainly wasn't looking forward to talking about him and their strange encounter, it was definitely better than talking about Edward and her dreams. _Talk about the lesser of two evils_.

Still, she paused. She really wasn't looking forward to Alice and Rosalie's reactions when she told them what had happened with Jordan. The whole experience had been extremely weird and more than that, Bella was embarrassed. She had absolutely zero experience with boys and dating and she was certain she had done something wrong. Rosalie and Alice never would have let Jordan get away with not talking to them or with avoiding them later at school.

"Bella, I know you said he kissed you, but he didn't try anything else, did he?" Alice asked with a worried look in the review mirror when her cousin remained silent.

Bella shook her head. "No, it was nothing like that," she reassured her friends. "I mean, yes, he kissed me but it was all, well, I don't know."

"Bella, please," Alice said. "You know you can tell us anything."

Alice somehow managed to give Bella a perfect puppy dog pout in the review mirror and Bella sighed, knowing when she was beaten. "Fine." She told her friends the entire story, starting with Jordan appearing in the coffee shop and ending with his current avoidance of her at school. "I just, I don't know. Was I supposed to say something or do something? I don't exactly have a whole lot of experience here," she finished miserably, looking down at her lap.

"Bella, it is absolutely **not** you," Rose said firmly, turning to face her from the front seat, waiting until Bella raised her head to look at her before continuing. "You did nothing wrong. He is the one with the problem. He's just another kid who's read one too many "philosophical" authors and now thinks he's above everyone around him. Trust me, he's in for a nasty wake up when he gets out into the real world."

Alice could see that Bella didn't want to discuss Jordan anymore so she quickly changed the subject and she and Rose spent the rest of the drive chatting between themselves, leaving Bella to stare out the window, lost in her own thoughts.

Alice's preparations for Jasper's visit didn't stop with one shopping trip, of course, but Bella found herself grateful for her cousin's energy and the distraction the upcoming visit provided. With all of the planning, shopping, cleaning, and late night talks about Jasper's impending arrival, Bella went to sleep the next three nights too exhausted to even dream.

* * *

Friday afternoon at lunch, Alice decided the five of them should go bowling that night at a nearby bowling alley so after a quick dinner with Charlie that evening, Bella and Alice met up with their friends at the alley at the agreed upon time. Rose had already gotten them signed up by the time they got there and they each grabbed a pair of bowling shoes before heading over to their lane.

Bella knew she wasn't what anyone would call a good bowler, but she also knew that with this group, her lack of skills wasn't terribly important and she was looking forward to an entertaining evening. As she straightened up from tying her shoes, her gaze landed on Edward and she couldn't help staring at him for a moment. Had his cheekbones always been so defined, his lips always so full and incredibly kissable looking? Bella shook her head sharply. What the hell was wrong with her, where were these thoughts even _coming_ from?

Almost as if he could hear her thoughts, Edward glanced up and caught Bella staring at him. Feeling the blush rising in her cheeks, Bella quickly turned away, walking over to the ball feeder and picking up the lightest ball she could find.

"You're up first, Bella," Rose called from where she sat behind the scoring screen. Bella nodded, approaching the end of their lane as she tried to focus her attention solely on the pins at the lane. Her brain, however, found it wanted to focus on other things and she ended up haphazardly flinging the ball down the lane where it quickly went into the gutter and disappeared.

Rolling her eyes at her gutterball and telling herself to calm the hell down, Bella turned back to the ball feeder to wait for her ball to return. As soon as it did, she grabbed it and straightened up, almost dropping the ball on her toes as she came face to face with Edward.

"Need some help?" he asked with a smile.

"Uh, sure," she mumbled awkwardly, walking back to the foot of the lane with Edward right behind her as she took her place. His right arm came around her to guide her arm as his left hand helped hers steady the bowling ball and her she felt her body automatically tense as the scent and warmth of his body surrounded her.

"Relax, Bella." Bella shivered as Edward's breath brushed against her ear and she only managed a nod, trying to force her body to listen to his instructions as he guided her arm back. As he brought it forward again she only just remembered to let go of the ball and stood watching as it rolled quickly down the lane, trying not to focus on the fact that Edward's arms were still around her.

Alice cheered as eight of the pins went down and Bella finally stepped away from Edward. "Thanks," she mumbled as she walked past him and took a seat next to Rose as Alice hopped up to take her turn.

Bella managed to bowl the rest of her frames without Edward's help and at the end of the game, she and Alice had each done fairly well with Edward scoring only a little higher than the cousins. Rose and Emmett, however, left them all in the dust. Rose had beaten Emmett by three points and he challenged Rose to an immediate rematch. Alice was all for another game but between the long week and the possible stress of Jasper's upcoming visit, Bella was worn out and she asked Alice if she could just get a ride home with the others and let her take Alice's car home now.

"I'm pretty tired, too, actually," Edward said. "So I was going to head out. I can give you a ride."

Bella hesitated a moment. She hadn't been alone with Edward since her dreams about him had come and gone but she was exhausted and there was really no way to decline his offer without awkwardness ensuing so she somewhat reluctantly accepted and said her goodbyes to the others before following him out of the alley.

Though Bella was anticipating an awkward ride home, the soft music coming from the car's speakers combined with the arm air blowing from the heater and even Edward's presence instead quickly combined to ease Bella's mind and she actually found herself dozing off a couple of times. For his part, Edward spent the entire drive perfectly content to steal glances at Bella as she napped while reliving how it had felt to have his arms around her under the guise of "helping" her bowling game.

He shook his head in irritation at the direction of his thoughts. He didn't want to pretend anymore or have to make up reasons to be close to Bella. He wanted her to know how he really felt and he wanted to know if her feelings toward him had changed. Their interactions over the past few months certainly seemed to indicate they had but he wanted to know for certain. Most importantly, he didn't want to keep lying to her.

He frowned at the thought. He wasn't lying exactly, was he? Alice clearly knew her cousin better than he did and if she thought it was the only way to let Bella see the real him, then he would have to trust her advice, right? His frown deepened. He was rationalizing and he knew it but he couldn't bring himself to do anything to sabotage this new tentative friendship he and Bella had struck up.

Still, the thought that he was not being completely honest with her continued to weigh on him and he only hoped he wouldn't have to keep the charade up much longer.

* * *

Alice and Bella drove to the airport early Sunday afternoon to pick up Jasper after Alice insisted that her cousin would not be intruding and she really wanted her to come with her. With the way Alice drove, they were there in plenty of time and after leaving the car in a parking garage, the two girls headed inside to wait for Jasper's flight to arrive.

After about half an hour of browsing through the various gift shops, they finally headed to the arrivals area to wait for Jasper. It was another ten minutes before his plane even landed, and Alice rocked on her heels impatiently while they waited.

Bella was just wondering if it would even be worth it to try to get Alice to calm down when suddenly, she felt her tiny cousin still beside her, her entire body tense. A moment later, a tall handsome blond guy stepped into view with the crowd of other arriving passengers. Alice moved so fast, Bella swore she never saw her go. One moment, her cousin was standing by her side – the next, she was several feet away and in the arms of the attractive blond. The two held each other close and Bella looked away to give their reunion some privacy – or as much privacy as a couple could get in the middle of a busy airport anyway.

A few moments later, Alice and Jasper joined Bella and she let her gaze focus on them again. "Bella, this is Jasper," Alice said needlessly.

"Bella, it's very nice to meet you," Jasper said as he shook her hand. "Thanks for letting me stay."

Bella smiled back, something about Jasper putting her immediately at ease. "Hi, Jasper. It's good to meet you, too. I'm glad you could come."

Jasper had no luggage other than the backpack he had with him so the three were able to immediately head to Alice's car in the parking garage. On the drive home, Jasper caught Alice up on the happenings at their old school and their mutual friends and acquaintances while Bella observed the pair from the back seat. Jasper's calm, laid back vibe provided the perfect balance for Alice's hyper energy and the two often seemed able to communicate through looks and subtle touches. The depth of their feelings for each other was obvious and while Bella was happy for her cousin, she couldn't help wondering just how Edward was going to feel when he saw the happy couple together.

To Bella's surprise, Charlie and Jasper seemed to hit it off right away and the four of them had an early dinner before the three teenagers headed out to meet Rose and the Cullens for a movie.

Bella found she was practically holding her breath as Alice introduced Jasper to the group but he and Edward, Emmett, and Rose all got along immediately and she allowed herself to relax slightly as they left the coffeeshop and headed to the theater.

As they walked the short distance to the theater, Bella tugged Edward's arm, letting the others pass them before she whispered urgently to him, "Jasper seems pretty intuitive. Don't you think he's going to realize you want to date his girlfriend?"

Edward smiled and threw his arm around her shoulder. "Guess I'll just have to pretend it's you I'm interested in, then," he told her with a wink. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy the warmth and weight of his arm around her before she tensed.

_He's just trying to make sure Jasper doesn't figure out it's Alice he really wants_, she reminded herself sharply, trying to ignore the way her stomach clenched at the thought. Not that it would make any difference, though. She had seen the way Alice was with Edward and the way she was with Jasper and there was no comparison – she and Jasper were truly in love; Edward didn't have a prayer.

For a moment, Bella almost felt bad for him. This feeling didn't last long, however, as irritation at Edward, Alice, and the entire charade filled her and she shook Edward's arm off of her shoulders, wishing for the millionth time that Edward's little game would end already.

* * *

Alice had taken Monday off to spend the day with Jasper but quizzes in English and French caused her to be back at school with her friends on Tuesday. She was glancing over a few pages in her French textbook when she heard Emmett ask Bella about their plans for Thanksgiving and she looked up in interest, wondering what her first holiday in Forks was going to be like.

"I don't really do anything much," Bella admitted. "My dad likes to work on Thanksgiving so he can take off Christmas without feeling guilty. Usually, I'm on my own for Thanksgiving, it's no big deal. I'm sure we could figure something out if you guys want to get a turkey or something," she added, looking over to Alice.

"You guys should come over to our house," Edward suggested. "We always do a big thing and my parents make way too much food. It'll be fun. Rose is coming."

"My parents are going down to San Diego to see some aunts and uncles," Rose explained when Bella looked to her. "I don't really get a holiday vibe from that place anymore."

Bella started to decline the offer, not liking the idea of intruding on another family's holiday and, quite frankly, hating the thought of subjecting Edward to having to see Alice and Jasper being all coupley yet again, but Alice spoke up first. "Oh, that sounds wonderful," she said with a big grin. "I love how everyone gets together on Thanksgiving. My mom stopped doing that after my dad died but it was my favorite holiday when I was little."

Bella's mouth snapped shut. _No way to say no now without looking like the biggest jerk in the world_, she thought unhappily. _Why on Earth would Edward subject himself to that? He really is just too nice for his own good._

The following day was a half day at school for the Thanksgiving break and Jasper insisted on driving the girls to school, telling them he would meet them in the parking lot when classes were over for the day. As Alice had made plans for the six of them to head to Port Angeles after the last bell, Bella met Rose and Emmett at Rose's locker after fourth period. Edward joined them shortly thereafter but when Alice was still nowhere to be seen after ten minutes, they headed outside to see if she and Jasper had already made their way to the cars.

The four had just exited the school when Bella spotted Alice across the parking lot. Jasper was with her and as the others watched, Alice shrieked at the top of her lungs and launched herself at Jasper, wrapping herself in his arms. Rose looked to Bella questioningly but Bella only shrugged and they moved to join the couple by their cars.

"He's staying!" Alice cried with an enormous smile on her face as soon as the others were close enough to hear her.

"What?"

"I'm transferring," Jasper explained in response to everyone's confused expressions. "I spent yesterday and today talking to principals, guidance counselors, and coaches at both schools and all the paperwork is being done and sent right now. When the next semester after Christmas break starts, I will officially be a Forks High Spartan."

"Th-that's great," Bella stammered as the others voiced their approval as well.

"Isn't it amazing?" Alice said happily. "So now he just needs somewhere to live. He could stay with us, couldn't he, Bella?" Alice looked to her cousin expectantly, her tiny body practically vibrating with excitement.

"I don't know," Bella said uncertainly. "Our house is kind of small." Their little house was in fact already pretty much filled to capacity as it was. The addition of someone else, not to mention a _male_ someone, might not sit so well with Charlie, no matter how well he seemed to get along with Jasper.

"You could always stay with us," Edward suggested when Alice's face fell. "We have plenty of room and our parents are pretty cool."

Bella had been avoiding looking at Edward during the entire exchange and her jaw dropped at Edward's words. What the hell?

Jasper looked surprised. "Would that be okay?"

"Sure, why not?" Emmett said with a huge grin. "Alice here tells us you're a pretty bad ass shortstop and we could definitely use one of those come Spring. Be pretty sweet to have a third of the starting rotation in the same house."

Outwardly, her expression was calm, but inside, Bella was freaking out a bit. The guy who _was_ Alice's boyfriend moving in with the guy who _wanted_ to be her boyfriend. This could not end well.

* * *

They spent a few hours at Frankie's Fun Park and then walked around downtown Port Angeles for awhile until Rose said it was too damn cold to be wandering around outside and suggested they stop at Itty Bitty Buzz to warm up. Alice made a beeline for the bathroom while Edward, Emmett, Rose, and Jasper joined the line at the counter to get hot chocolates for everyone, leaving Bella to stake out seats for the group.

She found a free group of several overstuffed chairs and a couch and dropped her things on the couch before taking a seat in one of the chairs. She settled herself comfortably in the chair, closing her eyes for a moment as she let her thoughts drift to the events of the day. Jasper was staying in Forks. Or coming back next semester, whatever. The point was that he was going to be here with the rest of them. And he was most likely going to be staying with Edward and Emmett. Staying in the same house as the guy who wanted to date his girlfriend and who would be forced to watch the happy couple every day for the better part of the next year and a half, wishing every moment that _he_ was with Alice instead of Jasper. Convinced the situation could not get any weirder or any worse, Bella sighed and opened her eyes.

And froze, a feeling of déjà vu creeping over her as she saw Jordan Rivers standing beside the chair opposite her. Forcing herself to remain calm, Bella met Jordan's gaze head on.

"Hello, Bella. Would you like a ride home?" he asked, his posture confident as if he was certain what the answer would be.

Was he serious? Somehow, she managed to internalize her shock and keep her face blank. "No, thank you," she replied.

"My car's right outside," he continued, seemingly oblivious to her rejection.

"That's nice," Bella said evenly. "But I'm here with my friends and I don't need a ride, thank you."

Alice stood a few feet away, out of site of the pair but still able to hear everything that was said, and she had to bite her tongue to keep quiet. Was this guy for real? After everything Bella had told her about the strange car ride home, after Alice had seen him blatantly ignore her at school, he was just going to waltz in here and expect Bella to drive off with him again? She figured they probably would have preferred some privacy at the moment but after the weirdness that had occurred last time, there was no way she was leaving Bella alone with him.

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "Bella, you can't really want to be _here_ with these people. You're better than that."

A hot flash of anger spiked in Bella to hear him speak about her friends like this yet again and her expression went cold. "I don't know who you think you are, but don't presume that you know me or my friends. I listened to your narrow minded, ignorant judgments once, I'm not going to do it again."

"But-"

"Goodbye, Jordan," Bella said with finality.

He stared at her for a moment, almost seeming to deflate before Alice's eyes, but when Bella did not say anything more, he finally turned and left. Alice felt like clapping for her cousin as she sat down on the couch across from her but when Bella looked over to her with a worried expression, she merely grinned and gave her a subtle thumbs up as the rest of their group rejoined them.

They went to Westside Pizza for dinner after they'd finished their drinks and then, figuring Alice and Jasper probably wanted some time alone to celebrate the news of Jasper's impending move, Bella accepted Edward's offer of a ride home as the other two couples split off to do their own thing.

As Bella got ready for bed later that night, her thoughts drifted back to the ride home with Edward. While the ride certainly hadn't been as awkward as her ride home with Jordan had been, there had still been a slight undercurrent of something that left Bella feeling a little uncomfortable. After the drama with Jordan and the news of Jasper's impending move to Forks, Bella was far too tired to deal with any kind of conversation and instead had pretended to sleep for the majority of the ride.

Several times when she peeked at Edward from beneath her lashes, she caught him glancing over at her with a frustrated expression on his face. She knew it couldn't be easy for him to have to watch Alice and Jasper together and that it was probably selfish of her, but she really just didn't feel like talking to and comforting him about the situation at the moment.

With a sigh, she climbed into bed and turned off her bedside light, snuggling down under the covers and trying to get comfortable. Whatever issues were going to be raised by Jasper staying in town, there was no point in worrying about the situation now. Now, the only thing she needed to focus on was sleep.

Alice was supposed to be sleeping in her room while Jasper was there but as she and her cousin knew full well that Charlie would be gone before anyone got up the next morning and that he'd never actually check the bedrooms, Bella knew Alice would be spending the night in her own room. This turned out to be a lucky thing for Alice as Bella found it very difficult to fall asleep that night.

She lay there for awhile, thoughts of dinner at the Cullens' the next day keeping her awake. What is something went wrong, what if she said something stupid, what if what if what if? She shook her head, annoyed with herself. Why on earth was she so worried? It was just another day hanging out with her friends. And it wasn't like she'd never met Dr. and Mrs. Cullen before.

Still, she spent most of the night tossing and turning, finally giving up at 7 and heading downstairs. She made a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, biscuits, and hash browns for Charlie, Alice, and Jasper but found herself unable to eat more than a few forkfuls of eggs. Charlie was surprised but grateful for the large feast and he ate heartily before heading off to work, telling Bella to have a good time and to remember to thank Carlisle and Esme.

Bella wrapped the food up to keep it warm until Alice and Jasper joined her and then began pulling out ingredients for an apple pie. She certainly didn't want to show up for Thanksgiving dinner empty handed and this was a good way to keep her mind off of the upcoming afternoon.

A short while later, Jasper padded barefoot into the kitchen. "Morning, Bella."

"Hey Jasper," she replied, looking up from the apple she was currently peeling. "I made breakfast if you want any. I put it in the microwave so it wouldn't get cold."

Jasper smiled. "Thanks. I'll go get Alice up for breakfast in a bit – I know she'll want to see at least some of the parade. In the meantime, what can I do to help?"

"Um, I'm good on the apple pie; how do you feel about making a pumpkin?"

Jasper nodded. "I can do that." Bella pointed him to the supplies he'd need and the two spent the next few minutes working in companionable silence.

Bella was just putting the top crust on her pie when Jasper broke the silence. "Thank you, Bella."

Bella looked up, puzzled. "For what?"

"For taking Alice in and being her family," Jasper said, looking up to meet Bella's gaze.

Bella was quiet a moment before she responded. "When Alice first got here, she told me that being here with me was like getting her sister back," she told Jasper. "And she was right. You know, Charlie and I got by all right before, but Alice being here has really made us into a family again."

Jasper smiled. "And I know that she feels the same way." He brushed his hands off on his pajama pants and looked down at the pumpkin pie before him. "And I am done with this pie here so I'm going to go wake Alice up so we can all eat some of that delicious breakfast you made and watch enormous balloons float down the streets of New York."

Bella smiled back. "Sounds good," she said as Jasper headed back upstairs to wake her cousin and she put the two finished pies into the oven to bake.

Alice and Jasper joined her a few moments later and the three spent the rest of the morning lounging around on the couches in their pajamas watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

They arrived at the Cullens' house around four o'clock that afternoon where Mrs. Cullen cheerfully ushered them all inside.

"Oh, Bella, it's so nice to see you again," she said as she wrapped Bella in a warm hug. "It's been ages. And look at you," she said, pulling back and smiling at Bella while she held her gently by the arms. "You're all grown up and beautiful."

Bella blushed scarlet and she ducked her head. "Thank you for having us, Mrs. Cullen," she said.

"Please, call me Esme," she said, still smiling. "How's your dad? Remind me, you'll have to bring some turkey dinner home to him."

Before Bella could respond, Esme gave Bella's arms a quick squeeze before releasing her and turning to Alice and Jasper. "And these must be your cousin Alice and our future tenant, Jasper."

"Really? Oh, thank you so much, Esme, that's so incredibly wonderful of you!" Alice bounced forward to hug Esme, a bright smile on her face. "And thank you so much for having us," she added, almost as an afterthought, as she stepped back.

Esme laughed as Jasper shook her hand. "Thank you, Esme," he repeated. "I can't tell you how much this means to me and to Alice."

Esme waved her hand. "Honestly, we're very glad to have you," she said with a smile.

While Esme took the pies to the kitchen, Alice, Jasper and Bella made their way to the living room where Esme had told them everyone else was watching television. Edward and his father both stood as they entered the room and Rose waved from where she sat. Emmett, sprawled on the floor in front of Rose's chair, held up a hand in greeting but never took his eyes off the football game on the TV in front of him. "Bella, it's nice to see you outside of the hospital," Dr. Cullen said with a smile.

"Hi, Dr. Cullen," she said with an embarrassed smile. At Alice and Jasper's puzzled looks she explained, "I fall down a lot. Dr. Cullen usually gets stuck putting me back together."

Alice giggled, remembering some of Bella's less than graceful moments that she had witnessed, and Carlisle smiled. "Carlisle, please," he said, shaking hands with Alice and Jasper. "Please, have a seat," he said, gesturing to the extremely comfortable looking couches and chairs in the room. "We were just watching the Ohio State/Michigan game."

"Oooh, great," Alice said, plopping gracefully down on the couch nearest to her, pulling Jasper down with her.

Bella stood looking around uncertainly for a moment until Edward motioned for her to come join him on the loveseat. Bella took a seat, trying to ignore just how close she and Edward were sitting and focusing her attention on the game.

However, for all of the sporting events Charlie watched at home, Bella had never really paid attention to the football games and she was lost and a little bored as the game continued. Edward noticed Bella looking puzzled after a play that had everyone else in the room cheering and he began to quietly explain what was happening on the field to her. He didn't dumb it down for her but he didn't provide her with information overload, either and by the end of the game he and the others had been watching when she arrived, she felt like she actually had a good grasp not only of the rules but the whole point of the game as well.

In fact, by the time the next game started, Bella was involved enough to pick a team to cheer for and found she was actually enjoying herself. Late in the second quarter, the game was tied and Bella was practically on the edge of her seat. As they watched, number 21 on the red team raced down the field, evading defenders and even breaking a tackle as he ran 65 yards into the end zone. As this was the team Bella had decided to root for, she couldn't help giving a little 'whoop' of excitement.

"Big cocks fan, huh, Bella?" Emmett asked with a wicked grin.

Bella almost choked on the cider Esme had brought out for everyone at the start of the second game. "What?" She glanced around the room, noting that thankfully Esme and Carlisle were engaged in conversation with Alice and Jasper and hadn't heard their eldest son's question.

"South Carolina. The red team," Edward explained quietly to a blushing Bella. "They're the Gamecocks."

"Made a good choice there, Bella," Emmett said, still smiling at her. "Go Cocks!"

After making sure Esme and Carlisle were still occupied, Bella turned back to Emmett, smiling sweetly at him as she gave him the finger. Rose and Edward cracked up and Emmett looked stunned a moment before a big grin spread across his face and he joined in the laughter.

"What's so funny?" Alice asked from the other side of the room.

"I think Bella's just learning how to deal with Emmett's sense of humor," Edward replied, winking at Bella.

Bella's face felt suddenly hot and she quickly looked away from Edward, trying to focus her attention on the football game once more.

A few minutes after the South Carolina/Tennessee game ended, Esme called Carlisle into the kitchen to carve the turkey. Fifteen minutes later, she announced that dinner was ready and asked everyone to take their seats in the dining room.

The conversation flowed easily at dinner and they all remained seated at the table when they had finished, talking and laughing as Edward and Emmett cleared the dishes. It was another half an hour before anyone could even think about dessert but as soon as he'd gotten the ok, Emmett practically jumped out of his seat to follow Esme into the kitchen.

"These pies look delicious," Carlisle said as Emmett set the apples and pumpkin pies on the table.

"That was all Bella and Jasper," Alice said with a laugh. "When it comes to food, I'm good at eating it, that's about it."

In addition to the two pies Bella had brought there were also brownies, cookies, and a red velvet cake that Esme had made earlier that day and despite the large dinner they had all just had, everyone dug into the desserts like they hadn't eaten in a week.

As Bella lay in bed that night, she acknowledged that her concerns about the day had been totally unnecessary. Everyone had seemed to have a really good time, the food had been amazing, and Esme and Carlisle had made her feel right at home. All in all, she realized as she settled back against her pillow, it had actually turned out to be the best Thanksgiving she could remember.

* * *

When Bella awoke the next morning, she stretched languidly, reveling in the fact that she had the entire day to do whatever she felt like doing. Charlie had left early that morning for his annual post-Thanksgiving weekend long fishing trip with his friend Billy and Bella knew Alice was planning on taking Jasper sightseeing in Seattle so she was looking forward to spending a lazy day hanging around in her pajamas, not doing much of anything.

And not much was exactly what she did. She watched some television, downloaded some new songs on iTunes, and started a new book she had gotten out of the library a few days earlier.

Late that afternoon, she had just started a new chapter when she heard the front door open and close. "Bella?"

"I'm up here, Alice," she called back. A quick glance at the clock told her it was only a little after 5:00 and she wondered what Alice and Jasper were doing home so early.

Seconds later, Alice came flying through her open door. "Hey! Okay, time to get up and get showered, we have a party to get to!"

Confused, Bella looked to Jasper who had just entered the room.

"Emmett and Edward are having a party at their house tonight," Jasper said. "We were helping them get the house ready.

Bella stuck a piece of paper in her book to hold her place and laid the book on the bedside table. "I thought you guys were going sightseeing," she replied, still a bit thrown by the sudden change in plans.

"We were," Alice replied. "But we'd just gotten down the street when Rose called me and we ended up going over there to help plan and set up. Since Jazz is moving here now, we figured Seattle could wait for another time. And I knew you probably wanted some time to yourself so I didn't want to bother you about it. Anyway, they're telling people 7:00 but I told them we won't be there 'til around 8:00 since we all have to shower and get some dinner first. So come on, you're up first," she finished, nudging Bella's shoulder."

Bella shook her head but she was smiling as she threw off the covers and stood, stretching before walking over to her dresser to pull out a bra and a pair of panties as Jasper slipped out of the room. "I'll pick out something for you to wear while you're in the shower," Alice added.

Knowing by now when it was useless to argue with her cousin, Bella didn't even bother protesting, instead grabbing her robe and heading for the bathroom.

* * *

By the time they reached the Cullens' house a little after 8:00, the party was already in full swing, the house packed with a number of fellow Forks High students.

After the three sodas and two glasses of water she had had at dinner, the bathroom was the first thing on Bella's mind and she groaned when she saw the long line outside the bathroom door.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked, somehow hearing Bella over the loud music and numerous conversations.

"I have to pee," Bella said as quietly as she could. "But look at that line."

"Hang on a sec." Alice ducked through the crowd, quickly returning to Bella's side. "Emmett said we can use one of the ones upstairs." Grabbing Bella's arm, she steered their way through the throng of partygoers and headed upstairs.

Bella followed her cousin down a long corridor, surprised when she didn't stop at any of the many doors but instead making her way to another staircase. There were three doors to choose from but Alice walked straight into the room right across from the staircase. Bella stopped when Alice turned on the light as they entered the room. "Alice, this isn't a bathroom," she said.

Alice gave her a 'duh' look and pointed to another door inside the room. "It's Edward's room. There's a bathroom attached. Go ahead, I'll wait here."

Shrugging, Bella hurriedly crossed the room to the bathroom, not even stopping to wonder why Alice had dragged her all the way up here. Right now, all she could focus on was finally getting to use the bathroom.

After washing her hands, Bella exited the bathroom, pausing this time to actually take in her surroundings. The wall to her left was simply glass floor to ceiling, giving an incredible view of the forest behind the Cullens' property. A large bed sat directly in front of her, parallel to the window, and on the other side of the bed was a large built in bookcase that was practically overflowing with books.

Bella tossed her jacket onto the bed before crouching down in front of the packed bookcase and beginning to peruse the titles and authors. After her conversation with Edward about _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_, Bella had realized that Edward did actually read outside of school assignments but she was still surprised by what she found on the shelves. A collection of plays by Oscar Wilde, _A Tale of Two Cities,_ _Great Expectations_, Orwell's _Animal Farm_ and _1984_, the entire _A Song of Ice and Fire_ series, a large volume of Shakespeare's poems and plays, as well as books by Neil Gaiman, Leon Uris, Henry Miller, Pat Conroy, and many others, some she had never even heard of. Edward's comment about having taken an English class or two came back to her and she scoffed to herself. He was hardly reading according to some high school class syllabus.

Edward's voice came from behind her. "And they're not just for show – I've actually read all of those."

Bella jumped a foot and turned around to find Edward standing in the doorway of his room grinning at her. He was dressed simply, in jeans and a white button down, and for some reason, the classic combination caused Bella to swallow hard before she could find her voice.

"I, um, I'm sorry," she stammered as she stood up straight. "Emmett said we could use one of the upstairs bathrooms since the line downstairs is so long and Alice brought me up here and then I saw all of your books and, well, yeah," she trailed off lamely.

Edward shrugged. "No worries, I don't mind."

Bella cleared her throat. "Um, good. So, uh, do you know where Alice went?" she asked, trying to shift the attention away from her embarrassment at being found snooping in Edward's house yet again. "She was just here."

Edward smiled. "She and Jasper went for a drive. She said they'll be back later. I think they just needed a little alone time."

Bella winced. That had to have hurt to hear, but the look on Edward's face was relaxed. "Doesn't it bother you?" she asked. "I mean, seeing them together like that and knowing that Jasper's going to be moving here now?"

"I've known about Jasper from the beginning," Edward reminded her.

"Yeah, but-"

"You can't help who you fall for, Bella."

The intensity of Edward's gaze caught her by surprise and Bella bit her bottom lip nervously.

Edward groaned. "I can't do this anymore," he muttered. Before Bella knew what was happening, he was suddenly standing right in front of her. His hand came up to cup her face and his thumb gently caressed her cheek. She sighed softly, leaning into his touch, and Edward's eyes darkened slightly. "Bella," he breathed.

And then he was kissing her.

**This** was how she had imagined her first kiss. Edward's lips were warm and soft against hers, molding against her own as his tongue slipped out to graze her bottom lip, his hand behind her neck to gently cradle the back of her head. Bella's lips parted of their own accord and without any conscious thought on her part, she was suddenly kissing Edward back.

Edward wrapped an arm around Bella's waist and pulled her closer as her arms went around his neck, her hands sliding up to play with the soft hair at the base of his scalp as she enthusiastically returned the kiss. The hand at her waist slipped beneath the hem of her sweater and Bella shivered at the sensation of his long fingers on her bare skin, her hands dropping to grip his shoulders tightly as his other hand slid up from the back of her neck to tangle in her hair.

_More!_ her body cried. _More!_

Pressed flush against his body, Bella could feel the sudden hardness in Edward's pants poking into her stomach and she instinctively rubbed herself against his thigh, a soft whimper escaping her throat as she sought relief from the throbbing she felt building between her legs. With a groan, Edward moved them backward so that Bella's back was now pressed up against the wall next to the bookshelf. Her hands dropped to his back, scrabbling for purchase through the fabric of his shirt, and she swore she heard Edward growl softly at the feel of her nails scraping down his back even as she continued rocking her hips against his, desperate for some kind of friction.

Edward could barely think straight – the feel of Bella in his arms, of her skin beneath his lips and her body pressed against his, was better than any fantasy he'd ever had. But somehow, he still managed to hear the little voice in his head warning him that if he didn't slow things down right now, there was a real possibility he wouldn't be able to stop.

With a strength he did not even know he possessed, he finally forced himself to pull back, cupping her face between his hands. Her eyes were glassy, her lips swollen, her hair in disarray from where he had been running his hand through it. That little noise she had made had been the sexiest thing he had ever heard and that combined with her current state was making it very difficult for him to not just drag her to his bed and refuse to ever let her leave and he forced his hands to his sides.

Bella looked dazed for a moment before her eyes came back into focus and she took a step back, hastily straightening her shirt and running a hand through her hair to tame it as she stared at him in shock. "Why did you do that?" she demanded shakily. Edward just smiled at her and Bella fought to clear her head. Taking a deep breath, she regained control of herself, glaring at Edward. "I don't think you should be kissing me if you're interested in Alice," she stated firmly.

"You're absolutely right, Swan."

Bella was thrown for a moment. "Then why…?"

Edward gave her the cocky half smile she had once detested but had recently begun thinking of as 'her' smile. "You're a smart girl, you figure it out."

Bella was still far too stunned to figure anything out. All she knew was that she had just shared a kiss that put all her fantasies to shame with Edward Cullen, the boy who had been tormenting her since she'd first moved to town. And not just a kiss, no. She had practically attacked him, dry humping him and tearing at his clothing in his bedroom when in reality it was Alice that he wanted. The one thing she knew for certain was that she had just made a complete and utter fool of herself.

Her head still spinning and her cheeks burning with humiliation, she turned and hurried from the room without another word.

"Bella!" She heard Edward call her name but it only served to make her move faster. She didn't want to hear that it was a mistake, she didn't want to hear that it was Alice that he really wanted, she didn't want to hear anything he might have to say at that moment.

Instead, she ran.

When she reached the first floor, the party was still going strong and she stopped short. Shit. Edward had said that Alice and Jasper had already left. Now what? She had to get out of there. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ben helping Angela into her coat and she dashed over to them.

"Are you guys leaving already?" Bella asked, hoping she didn't look or sound as freaked out as she really was.

Angela blushed. "Um, yeah, we were going to head out." She and Ben exchanged a look alluding to just what they would be doing on their own but Bella ignored it.

"Could I possibly get a ride home with you? Alice and Jasper took off for a bit and I really don't feel very well all of a sudden."

Bella's face was flushed, her eyes still glassy, and Angela reached out a hand to touch Bella's forehead. "Are you all right?" she asked in concern. "You're burning up."

"Yeah, I think I just need to lie down."

"We can give you a ride," Ben said. "That's no problem."

"Of course," Angela agreed. "Do you have a coat?"

A coat. Shit. Belatedly, Bella remembered that her coat was probably still up in Edward's room. "Um, no, I forgot one," she lied. "So I'm ready whenever you guys are."

"Okay, we've already said goodbye to Emmett and Rose so we're ready," Angela said.

Bella smiled in relief, quickly glancing around the room. She saw Rose and Emmet and waved to the couple from across the room, indicating she was leaving with Angela and Ben, before turning and following her friends out the door.

Up on the third floor, Edward had finally managed to calm his body down and he immediately went looking for Bella. No one was on the second floor but when he reached the first floor, he picked Emmett and Rose out of the crowd right away.

Rose looked up and saw him signaling to them and she grabbed Emmett's arm, pulling him through the crowd to meet Edward. Between the music and the conversation of various partygoers, it was far too loud in the room for any conversation and Edward led them to Esme's office, which had been kept locked and off limits for the party.

"Have you guys seen Bella?" he asked as soon as Rose shut the door behind them.

"She just left, like, two minutes ago," Emmett said.

Edward's heart sank. "What? She wasn't driving, was she? Was she okay?"

"She left with Angela and Ben," Rose replied. "And she looked kind of freaked out." Even from across the room, she had seen the flush on Bella's cheeks and the panicked look in her eyes. "What exactly did you do?" Rose's voice was even but Edward didn't miss the warning in her eyes and he shook his head.

"I kissed her," he admitted.

"Well it's about time, man," Emmett said.

"She was kissing me back but when we stopped, she ran off. I think I just fucked everything up," he added miserably.

Edward looked completely dejected and Rose softened. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you think," she said sympathetically. "You probably just need to give her a little time and then go talk to her. I'm going to call Alice and see if she's heard from her," she added, exiting the room and leaving the brothers alone.

"Don't look so down, Eddie," Emmett said, trying to cheer his younger brother up. "You finally got to kiss the girl of your dreams. You should be happy!"

"You didn't see the look on her face when she ran out of my room," Edward said miserably. "God, I am such a dumbass."

"Well, normally I'd agree," Emmett said, hoping to lighten the mood. "But I think you're overthinking this one, man."

Anything Edward might have said in response was cut off by Rose reentering the room. "I can't get ahold of Alice," she told them. "I left her a voicemail and a text telling her to call me right away and to make sure she checked on Bella, but I don't know if she'll even look at her phone tonight."

She glanced back at the door to the room. "We should probably get back out there, make sure no one breaks anything. You coming?" she asked Edward, her tone still far gentler than Edward was used to hearing it.

"Yeah, come on, come back out with us," Emmett said. "The party'll take your mind off everything."

Edward shook his head. "I'm not really in the party mood," he said glumly. "I'm just gonna go upstairs."

Emmett protested but Edward said his goodnights and headed back up to his room.

When he reached his bedroom, he sat down heavily on his bed, falling down onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. What the hell had just happened?

_You just ruined everything with the girl you want to be with, that's what happened_, his brain responded tauntingly.

And it was true, he acknowledged, that was exactly what he had done. Bella had been in his arms, returning his kiss, making the most incredible sounds he had ever heard. It had been the perfect opportunity to come clean, to tell her how he really felt about her and how sorry he was for the stupid things he had done in the past.

He had instead reverted to the idiot that Bella hated, making a smart ass comment and smirking at her instead of sucking it up and telling her the truth.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ he berated himself. _What the hell is __**wrong**__ with you?_

Bella would most likely never even speak to him again and he had no one to blame but himself.

* * *

Author's Note: There are a few things in here that I know are incorrect (Jasper would never be able to transfer high schools and play a sport the same year – they would make him sit out a season before he could start. Also, college football isn't played on Thanksgiving but I hate pro football and I wanted to keep Emmett's teasing in there!) and though they drive my anal retentive self crazy, I needed to keep them in there for the plot. Thanks for being understanding!


End file.
